


Life Changes

by ConsultingUnderGroundRainbow



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Actor Peter Parker, Aged-Up Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Stephen strange, Doctor! Tony Stark, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, unrequited love(Stephen Strange)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-07-04 10:38:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15839532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingUnderGroundRainbow/pseuds/ConsultingUnderGroundRainbow
Summary: Peter Parker loved singing and dancing. He was lucky to get on Broadway at a young age.  His career was his passion.The universe has other plans. Something happens and ruins everything. Or does it?





	1. Chapter 1

  
Tony looked around the theatre. It was nice. Of course it was, it was Broadway, after all.    
  
"Do we have to go see _Hairspray_ of all things?" He complains. "It's so girly. I don't do girly musicals. Hell I don't do musicals. It's not my thing. Can't I just go back to work?"   
  
Pepper swats his arm. "It's a good musical. And no. You need time off. You're overworking yourself again."   
  
"It's not my fault being a surgeon is time consuming." Tony sasses back. She was right, as always but still. Tony loved his job, He loved helping people get better.   
  
"You need to relax Tony."   
  
"And I couldn't do that at home? With a drink?"   
  
"No. Now we need to get seated. I got us good seats so shut up and enjoy it. It's the last performance of this cast and I heard it's really good."   
  
"Fine. But you owe me one." Tony pouts.   
  
"Alright you big baby." Pepper rolls her eyes and grabs his arm, dragging him into the theatre.   
  
Tony complains but lets himself be pulled. Pepper had gotten them seat in the middle of the third row. He sits, crossing one leg over the other and opening the play bill. He scanned the cast names, recognizing a few.   
  
\-----.-----   
  
Backstage was full of sounds of warming up and tap tag of people running back and forth, and dancing. Peter leans forward towards the mirror as he works at getting his hair into place. He had some time before he went out. He finally gets his hair settles and smiles, spinning around and winking at the mirror. He looks over at his best friend, Ned. Ned worked backstage with tech.   
  
"Okay guys I have big news." Ned announces, setting his clipboard down as the cast members gathered around him. "We have some pretty big guests in the audience. Kristin Chenoweth is here and so is the renowned surgeon Tony Stark."   
  
Peter, who usually didn't nervous on show nights, felt panic rising. His Broadway idol and Tony freakin Stark were in the audience. The cast members around him started talking over each other until Ned blew a whistle he kept with him and they shut up.   
  
"That means we have to put on the best show of our lives tonight. Her opinion could make or break everyone's career. We go on in five so get ready. Bring it in."   
  
The cast all put their hands in a circle and sing half a scale before shouting "Showtime". Peter smooths his jacket and does his best to calm his heart. He had to put his best foot forward and he couldn't very well do that if he threw up from nerves.   
  
As his stage time slowly crept closer, Peter started to feel better. He loved the rush of performing. He rolls his shoulders back and stepped out for his first number. As soon as his feet hit the stage, he was okay.   
  
\-----.-----   
  
Tony was only half paying attention , his mind elsewhere. He didn't understand what the big deal about Baltimore was. Personally he hated the city. The people were rude and it smelt bad. He had almost dozed off when a cocky sounding man started to speak. He was talking-then singing- about some nice kids. Tony rolls his eyes. There was no such thing as 'nice kids'. Especially in high school. The song was slightly racist but that was the time period.   
  
"R-r-r-roll call!"   
  
Tony started to tick off on his fingers. Amber, bitch. Brad, try hard. Tammy, fake. Fender, stoner. Brenda, teen mom. Sketch, dequlient. Shelly, annoying. IQ, junkie. Lou Ann, church girl. Joey, car obsessed. Mickey, jock. Vicki, cheerleader. Becky, slut. Bix, debate team. Jess, band nerd. Darla, single mom. Pauly, cat lady. Noreen and Doreen, know it alls. Then a new voice joined the cast.   
  
"-And I'm......Link." The dark haired boy smirks and fixes his tie.   
  
The audience went crazy when "Link" winks. Tony sits forward, intrigued now. He had a cute innocent face but wore the sexy look well. Tony had to admit the actor was pretty attractive, He was a bit young but after hearing his voice it's no wonder he's on Broadway. Tony is mesmerized, no matter how weird a name Link was. What kind of mother names their kid Link? He opens his playbill and scans the list of cast members. His name was Peter Parker. Tony made a mental note to look him up later.   
  
Now that this boy caught his attention, Tony was actually paying attention to the musical. He'd deny it on his life if anyone asked, but he was actually enjoying himself. He felt a little more than he had in a while and it was nice. If he had to choose a favorite song from the musical, it would have to be 'It Takes Two' because of this Peter's beautiful voice or 'I Know Where I've Been' because it reminded him of his own life.   
  
When the musical ended, Tony stands and stretches, carefully cradling the roses he bought during intermission. Pepper had told him she was dragging him to the cast party. He rolls his eyes playfully and follows.   
  
"You liked it!" Pepper grins.   
  
"I don't know what you mean." Tony banters playfully.   
  
"You liked it. You don't smile for just anything, I know you. You liked the musical." She smirks. "Or was it the actor? Peter Parker?"   
  
"You know me. You tell me." Tony laughs, following her outside.   
  
\-----.-----   
  
Peter grins as he bows, feeling a rush of pride at an amazing performance. He was breathing hard and his face was pink with excitement. He follows the line of cast members off stage to change. He exchanges the blue suit for his own tux, running his hand over the fabric. He would miss this cast and show. It had been his favorite so far. The crew were amazing and super nice. They all got along instantly.   
  
"Hurry up Peter! We gotta go!" One of the company member, Elimie calls.   
  
"Coming coming!" Peter fixes his tie and joins her. The cast broke off into groups and ducked into the waiting limos.   
  
The cast party was held at the Prince George Ballroom. Peter had only seen it once. It was beautiful. Once they got there, Peter gets out and is immediately swarmed by reporters. He takes a breath and laughs under his breath.He didn't mind the press but sometimes it was rather annoying. He answers the questions with a smile.   
  
"Mr. Parker!" One reporter calls. "What is your next show going to be?"   
  
Peter thinks for a moment. "Well I've always wanted to be in Something Rotten. I think I'll audition for that next."   
  
With that, he ducks inside. He makes his way to the bar and orders a champagne. He thanks the bartender and looks around before walking around to mingle. He sees the director beckon him over and Peter obeys. It wasn't until he got over there that he realized just who his director was talking to.   
  
"Hi sweetheart. Peter right?"   
  
Peter was speechless Kristin freaking Chenoweth knew his name and was talking to him. He stood with his mouth slightly open before snapping it shut.   
  
"Y-yeah. Sorry. Yes I'm Peter." He gives a shaky smile. "I'm sorry. But I just have to say, you have been a huge inspiration for me. The first musical I ever saw was Wicked and I loved you in Glee and Strange Magic was amazing.." Peter realized he was babbling and he trails off with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. It's just my dream to be like you."   
  
Kristin smiles softly. "Well it's my pleasure. I'm proud to inspire young talent. Keep going, you're gonna be amazing doll."   
  
Peter blushes lightly. If he was dreaming he never wanted to wake up.   
  
"Oh. It looks like someone else wants your attention." Kristin says with a smile.   
  
Peter turns and nearly fainted. Tony Stark stood there, with a patient smile on his face.   
  
"I'll leave you to it." She pats his shoulder and walks away.   
  
"H-hi." Peter stammers.   
  
Tony couldn't help but smile. He was adorable when he was embarrassed.   
  
"These are for you." He offers the flowers.   
  
Peter looked up with surprise in his already large eyes.   
  
"W-why?"   
  
Tony almost laughs. "Because you did a good job? I find it hard to believe you don't compliments. Especially after a show like that?"   
  
Peter flushed deeper. "O-oh of course. Thank you." He accepts the flowers.   
  
"So how does it feel knowing you took my Broadway virginity?" Tony smirks.   
  
Peter's mouth dropped open as he tried to answer and Pepper comes up and smacks his arm.   
  
"Tony what did you do to him?"   
  
"I only said that he took my Broadway virginity." Tony says with an innocent look. Pepper rolls her eyes.   
  
"Tony!"   
  
"What?"   
  
"You can't just say things like that!"   
  
"It's okay Miss." Peter speaks up. "I've heard weirder."   
  
Tony smiles. "See, it wasn't that weird." He turns back to Peter.   
  
"Can I have your autograph?"   
  
"I feel like I should be asking you that." Tony laughs. "How about we trade?" He suggests, handing over his playbill.   
  
Tony watches as Peter signs the playbill and finds a clean napkin and scribbles down his name and phone number before handing it over. Peter looks at him with a raised eyebrow.   
  
"Use it and let me find out if you taste as good as you sound." Tony winks before his pager went off. He looks down and swears softly. "I have to go but I mean it. Call me." He winks and takes off.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter looked at the napkin in his hand in shock. He couldn’t believe Tony Stark had given him his number. Of course it could be fake. But what if if it wasn’t? But then again, why would Tony Stark, world famous brain surgeon, be interested in him of all people? He sighs softly and carefully folds it before putting in his pocket. He looks up as Ned came towards him. 

“Did you just get flowers and hit on by Tony Stark?” He gaped.

“I...think so? I don’t know.’   
  
“You’re gonna see him again right?”

“I don’t know! Maybe?”

“Dude you have to! No one gets flowers from Tony Stark. You should call him.”

Peter flushes brightly. “You think so?”

“Duh! Come on, maybe he wants a private performance?” Ned waggles his eyebrows.

“I-” Peter snapped his eyes up from the flower he had been looking at. “You think so? But why?”

“Dude just call him.”

“Well I can’t tonight. He just left. I think something happened at the hospital. He got paged.” Peter shrugged. “He’s got more important things to do than hang around me.”

“Don’t talk down on yourself like that. I’ll smack you.” Ned says, slight thumping the side of Peter’s head. Peter swats his hand away.

“Sorry sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Damn right it won't happen again.” Ned nods. “Now come on. Director wants a team meeting.”

\-----.-----

Tony sighs softly, leaning against the wall. He was exhausted. His patient hard coded and needed emergency surgery. This is what happens when he missed work. Thankfully they managed to save the man, but the surgery took four hours and Tony was running on half an hour of sleep and a Red Bull. He musters a smile as he makes his way to the patient’s family.

“Doctor Stark.” A frazzled looking black haired woman calls. “How is he? Jermey? Is he okay?”

“Jeremy is just fine. He is sleeping now. We had quite the scare with internal bleeding but we caught it and fixed it.” Tony smile is a little more real now as the woman’s face broke into tears of relief. 

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” She moves forward and hugs him. Tony, used to this reaction, hugs her back. 

“It’s my pleasure.” He whispers. He lets her hug him until she lets go and he pats her arm. “Have a good night.” He smiles once more before heading to an oncall room and collapsing on one of the beds. He pulls out his phone and checks his messages.

_ Received  _ **_Unknown Number:_ ** _ Hi. This is Peter. I’m not sure if this is really your number or not and if it’s not, I completely understand. It’s not a good idea to give your number to random strangers at fancy parties…….Anyway. I just wanted to say thank you for the flowers, they are beautiful and I’m glad you enjoyed the show.  _

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He looks at the time. Half past three AM.

_ Sent  _ **_Unknown Number:_ ** _ I’m glad you liked them. Beautiful flowers for a beautiful person. I hope to see you again soon. Either on stage or in a more private setting. _

After sending the text, Tony saved the number to his contacts. He didn't expect an answer, as it was so late. He instead pulls up youtube and puts Peter’s name in the search bar. A list of videos popped up and he clicked the first one. It looked like an audition video. Peter was dancing around with a huge smile on his face and singing “Lay Your Love on Me”. He was dancing around with a girl who was pretty cute, with a pixie like face. The whole performance screamed sexy. But that was the nature of the song after all. The video was interrupted by his phone buzzing with a new text message.

_ Received  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ That would be nice. I’m free tomorrow...well today technically, if you are. _

Tony reads the message with a smile. He pauses the video and switches over.

_ Sent  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ What are you still doing up young man? _

The reply came less than a minute later. 

_ Received  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ I couldn’t sleep and I am getting ready for my next audition. And besides, I’m 25. I’m not a ‘young man’. What are you doing up? _

Tony laughs, laying on his back. 

_ Sent  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ You care a kid compared to me. I just got out of a surgery. What are you working on? _

_Received_ **_Peter:_** _How old are you? The same one that made you leave earlier?_

_ Sent  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ I’m 50. And yes. It was a pretty long surgery. What are you working on? Can I hear? _

_ Received  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ Do you really want to? Don’t you need sleep? _

_ Sent  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ I’m fine. Don’t you?  _

_ Received  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ Sleep isn’t coming again. _

Tony smiled sympathetically. He got that. 

_ Sent  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ Can I hear what you’re working on? _

_ Received  _ **_Peter:_ ** _ Sure but can I call you? The recording doesn’t do it justice. Neither does over the phone but it is better than an mp3. _

Instead of answering, Tony called him. Peter answers on the first ring.

“Hello again.” Tony smiles.

_ “You sound dead on your feet.” _

“It’s nice to hear you too.” Tony couldn’t help laugh. “I’m not on my feet if that makes you feel better. I’m laying down in an oncall room.”

_ “Are you on call?” _

“Not any more. Don’t worry. So what are you working on?”

_ “Well I'm trying to figure what song to audition with in two days.” _

“Well tell me about the part you’re going for and maybe we can figure it out together.”

_ “Well I was looking at playing William Shakespeare in  _ Something Rotten _ ” _

“Shakespeare?”

_ “Yeah. See the musical is a parody of sorts. It’s about this guy, Nick Bottom who is writing the first ever musical and he and Shakespeare are rivals.” _

“Alright. Tell me about this Shakespeare character.”

_ “In a few words, he’s a cocky asshole.”  _ Peter says bluntly. Tony laughs at this.

 

Tony’s laugh sounds musical to Peter’s ears. He smiles and tucks his legs under him as he settles on his bed. 

“It’s true!” Peter laughs himself. “I need a song that shows that I’m better than everyone.”

_ “What about “Vehicle” by Ides of March?” _

“Hm...maybe.”

_ “Well let me hear one of Shakespeare’s songs and we can compare it.” _

“Okay hold on.” Peter gets up and goes to his laptop, pulling up the karoke of the song ‘Hard to Be The Bard’ and starting it. He dances around a little as he waits his entrance. 

“My days are so busy it's making me dizzy   
There's so much I gotta do   
There's lunches and meetings and poetry readings   
And endless interviews   
Gotta pose for a portrait and how I deplore   
Sitting there for eternity   
Then it's off to the inn where my innkeeper friend   
Wants to name a drink after me   
Then it's back to my room, where I resume   
My attempt to write a hit   
Just me and my beer and the terrible fear   
That I might be losing it   
And it's hard   
It's hard   
It's really, really hard   
So very very hard   
I make it look easy but honey, believe me   
It's hard   
It's hard   
It's so   
Incredibly hard   
So inconceivably, unbelievably hard   
It's hard to be the bard]   
Honestly, I don't know how I do it. There's only so much of me to go around   
I've got so many fans with so many demands   
I can hardly go take a piss   
Be it theater freak or the autograph-seeker   
They all want a piece of this   
It's a cross that I bear, I'm like Jesus, I swear   
It's a burden but I suffer through it   
It's all part of the game, the trappings of fame   
But somebody's gotta do it   
And I know, I know, I gotta go   
And get back to my pen and ink   
Oh don't make me do it   
Don't make me go through it   
Can somebody get me a drink?   
'Cause it's hard   
Cause it's hard   
It's hard It's really really hard   
It's sexy but it's hard   
This bar that I'm raising   
To be this amazing!   
It's hard    
It's hard   
It's so   
Annoyingly hard   
So unavoidably, un-enjoyably hard   
It's hard to be the bard, baby   
Ugh. I know writing made me famous, but being famous is just so much more fun. You see...   
  
What people just don't understand   
Is that writing's demanding   
It's mentally challenging and it's a bore   
It's such a chore   
To sit in a room by yourself   
Oh my god, I just hate it!   
And you're trying to find an opening line   
Or a brilliant idea and you're pacing the floor   
And hoping for just a bit of divine intervention   
That one little nugget, that one little spark   
Then Eureka! You find it, you're ready to start   
So now you can write, right? Wrong!   
You're not even close, you remember that damn it   
Your play's gotta be in iambic pentameter!   
So you write down a word but it's not the right word   
So you try a new word but you hate the new word   
And you need a good word but you can't find the word   
Oh where is it, what is it, what is it, where is it?   
Blah-blah-blah, ha ha, ah-ah -UGHHHHHHH!-” Peter stops to take a breath and hears Tony cracking up. 

_ “That is amazing!”  _ Tony takes a breath. _ “The song. Its beautiful. I already love the character.” _

Peter smiles widely. “Yeah?”

_“I definitely need to go see this now. I really_ _hope you get this part.”_

Peter feels a little swell of pride. 

_ “Can you do ‘Vehicle’ next? I’m sure it’s perfect I just want to hear it in your voice.” _

Peter flushes a little. “Yeah sure. Hold on.” He types into the search bar and spins around in his chair as he waits. He nearly falls off his chair when the trumpet line blares through the speakers. 

_ “You okay?” _

“Yeah I’m good. Just a little spooked-” He cuts off as the words start and he starts to sing along. 

_ “God damn kind. You’re voice is angelic.” _ Tony says with a groan.

Peter blushes brightly again and looks down at the phone in his hand.

“Thank you Dr. Stark."

_ “Tony.” _

“What?”

_ “My name is Tony.” _

“Right. Sorry.”

_ “I get off at six. Wanna grab dinner?” _

“That sounds like fun.”

_ “Great. I’ll see you there.” _

“I can’t wait.”

_ “Can I make one more request?” _

“Sure.” Peter says, stretching out and popping his joints.

_ “Sing me to sleep?” _

Peter nearly dropped his phone. Tony Stark wanted him to sing him to sleep?!?

_ “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I know it’s a weird request-” _

“I’d love to sing you to sleep.” Peter smiles and makes his way back to his own bed. He thinks for a moment before starting to sing ‘A Lullaby for a Stormy Night’. It didn’t take long for Tony to fall asleep and Peter was out soon after.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter wakes up around eleven to a text from Tony.  
Received Tony: Make sure to hydrate today when you practice. I’d hate to see you in the ER due to collapsing.  
Peter smiles softly before getting up and snapping a picture of his water bottle and sending.  
Sent Tony: We still on for tonight?  
He gets up and gets dressed, finding a pair of soft pants and a button down. He decided to go to the studio to work on some the dances he was given as the dancing part of the audition. The dance was fairly simple but that means he had to be perfect and no less. Of course, with his standards, anything less than perfect wasn’t good enough.  
Peter was making a sandwich when his phone pinged. He sets the knife down and unlocked it.  
Received Tony: Of course. I’m looking forward to it. Did you sleep well?  
SentTony: I did. Did you?  
Peter puts the phone in his pocket and slides his shoes on, grabbing his sandwich and his keys. He takes a bite and walks out, locking the door before going to to his car. His phone buzzed as he was unlocking his car.  
Received Tony: I’m a doctor. There’s no such thing as a good night sleep anymore.  
SentTony: Oh. I’m sorry :(  
Peter slides into the car and sets his phone into the passenger seat, finishing his sandwich and taking off to the studio. This was the studio where he learned to dance and it was his safe haven. He greets the lady at the desk, Sherri.  
“How are you doing today Peter?”  
“I’m doing great. How’s the kids?” Peter smiles.  
“Growing like weeds. So, Something Rotten, huh? Which character?”  
“William Shakespeare.” Peter laughs a little.  
Sherri raises an eyebrow. “Wanting a reason to take your shirt off on stage?” She teases.  
“Are you complaining?”  
“Not at all. I just need to know when I can clear my calendar to come watch.” She wiggles her eyebrows. Peter chuckles.  
“Behave Sherri.” He scolds.  
“Or what? You’ll spank me?”  
Peter rolls his eyes with a smile. Sherri was a flirt but was harmless. She drops off a muffin on her desk before making his way into the studio. He sits his bag down and kneels next to the stereo and connected his phone. He sits with his legs out and stretches, before picking himself up and beginning to dance around the room. He lets himself get caught up in the music and the moments just come naturally.  
\-----.-----  
Tony smiles as he finishes his rounds, making his way to the break room for coffee. He nearly runs into Stephen Strange on his way though. Stephen was the head of neurosurgery.  
“Woah!” Stephen stumbles back a little. “Earth to Stark.”  
Tony shakes his head. “Sorry sorry.”  
“What’s got you so distracted?” Stephen moves aside so Tony could get to the coffee pot.  
“I’m tired mostly.”  
“But you’re in a good mood. You’re an asshole when you’re tired. Did you have sex?” Stephen asked with an amused smile.  
“No.” Tony takes a deep drink from his mug. He hums at the strength. It tasted amazing.  
“I don’t believe you.”  
Tony sits the mug down on the counter.  
“I did not have sex. But I met a guy.”  
Stephen makes an ‘ah’ sound. “That makes sense. Tell me about him?”  
“His name is Peter Parker-”  
“Peter Parker? Like the one on Broadway?”  
Tony shot him an annoyed look. He hated being interrupted. Stephen didn’t even bother to look sorry.  
“Yes, the one from Broadway. He’s pretty and seems very sweet. We’re meeting for dinner when I get off.”  
“You better be careful Tony.”  
Tony raises an eyebrow.  
“And what does that mean?”  
“You are both well known public figures. If this ends bad it could ruin your career. Plus, even with as annoying as you are, I don’t want to see you hurt.”  
“I honestly don’t see this going bad. At least I really hope it doesn’t. He seems like a really good person. He sang me to sleep last night.” Tony mentions, raising an eyebrow at Stephen’s last remark. “Oh Stephen! You do care!” He says with a laugh.  
Stephen rolls his eyes. “You’re needed in the ER. Boss’ orders.”  
Tony sighs and puts his mug in the sink. “I have an operation at three.”  
“He knows. But there’s a guy who said he has had a headache for a week and a half. Rogers says to check it out.”  
“Alright. Fine.” He turns and leaves the room, making his way down to the ER. 

“Good morning, I’m Dr. Tony Stark. I see you’ve been having headaches for a week and a half?” Tony asked, going over the chart. He looks up at the man. He looked young, maybe a sophomore in high school.  
“No sir, not headaches. Just one non stop headache.” He winces and closes his eyes against the bright lights of the hospital.  
Well that was not good.  
“Okay…” Tony glances at the chart. “Aaron, we’re gonna get you up to MRI and see if we can find the cause of these pains okay?”  
Aaron just nods.  
\-----.-----  
Peter lays flat on his back in the middle of the studio, with his eyes closed and just let the music wash over him. He kept his mind blank, unsure what to even expect that evening. He honestly did try to keep his mind on his audition, and he was able to for a while but his mind kept slipping back to Tony’s invite. Was it a date? Was it just casual? What do you wear to a dinner with a famous brain surgeon? He sits up and rubs his face. He needed help. He called Ned.  
“Hello hello. How may I be of service Dancing Queen?”  
Peter rolls his eyes at the nickname.  
“I need help. I can’t figure out what to wear tonight.”  
“Is it a date?”  
“Well I’m getting dinner with Tony-”  
“You’re getting dinner with Tony Stark?!?”  
Peter had to hold the phone away from his ear at Ned’s loud tone.  
“Yes and I need your help.”  
“I’m on my way.”  
Peter hangs up and laughs to himself. He picks himself up and turns the stereo off before telling Sherri goodbye and heading home.  
\-----.-----  
“Hey Strange. Come here.” Tony calls, sticking his head out of the lab door. Stephen looks over with a tilted head.  
“What?” He asked, coming in and sitting his coffee down.  
“Look at this.”  
Tony puts up Aaron’s scans on the display.  
“My god.” Stephen leans forward. “That thing is the size of my fist!”  
“Yeah. We have to operate. Toady. That thing is going to kill him if we don’t.”  
“What about your date?”  
Tony bites his lip. Was it a date? He would love for it to be a date, but he wasn’t sure Peter would be up for it. Stephen snaps his fingers.  
“Earth to Stark. Hello!”  
Tony shakes his head.  
“Sorry sorry. No I’m sure he’ll understand. He’s a good person.”  
“Alright. If you say so. I’ll get an intern started on pre ops.”  
“Yeah and I’ll go tell him what’s happening-” Tony stopped when his pager went off. He checks it and swears loudly. “Damnit! He’s coding. We are operating now!” He bolts out the door.  
\-----.-----  
Peter stands outside the hospital for a moment, smoothing his shirt and taking a deep breath. He and Ned ended up settling on a red button down and black slacks.He shifts from one foot to the other. It was about half an hour before he wonders if he should have gone inside. He sighs and squared his shoulders before going in. He looks around for a moment before the nurse at the desk calls him over.  
“Sir? May I help you?”  
Peter clears his throat, suddenly nervous.  
“Um...Yes. Can you tell me where Dr. Stark is?”  
“He’s in surgery.”  
Relief floods over Peter like a tidal wave. Tony was in surgery. He hadn’t been stood up.  
“Okay thank you.”  
He looks around and finds a seat, sitting down to wait. He pulls out his phone and starts to run through lines. To any other person, he probably looked insane, but Peter didn’t really care. He managed to get through a good chunk of the first act of Sweeney Todd before the nurse clears her throat.  
“Sir, here he comes.”  
Peter jumps up as Tony comes through the double doors. He looks tired but happy. He brightens instantly when he sees Peter.  
“Peter! I’m so sorry about being late. I had a surgery and I’m going to change now-”  
Peter smiles.  
“Don’t apologize. I don’t mind waiting. Go, a few more minutes won’t kill me.”  
Tony gives him a grateful smile.  
“I’ll make this up to you.”  
‘Don’t worry about it. Go.” Peter shoos him.

 

Tony quickly changes into the suit he had brought from home during his lunch break. He forwent the tie, settling on the button up and jacket, in which he only buttoned the middle. He runs a brush through his hair but it wasn’t wanting to corruprate.  
“Well don’t you look dashing?” Stephen says behind him.  
Tony turns, smirking a little. “I always look dashing, what are you talking about?”  
Stephen rolls his eyes. “Ever heard of a hairbrush?”  
“Hey maybe Peter likes the messy look.”  
“Well maybe. He is going out with you.” Stephen teases and laughs. “Have fun tonight and try not corrupt him too much.”  
“Who me?” Tony asked innocently. “I’m a good egg.”  
“We will see. Now go on. He’s waiting for you.”  
“Alright. See you tomorrow and let me know if something happens with Aaron?”  
“I will. Now go.”  
Tony smirks and winks before pushing out of the locker room. The look on Peter’s face was priceless. His honey eyes widen and his mouth drops open. Tony laughs a little.  
“See something you like?”  
“I see a lot of what I like.”Peter blurts then blushes deeply.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. What the hell did he have to open his big mouth? Peter wanted to crawl into a hole and die.  
“So do I.” Tony smiles offers his hand. “Shall we?”  
“Oh. I..I drove.”  
“That’s okay. I’ll bring you back here after dinner.”  
Peter feels his ears go pink and he takes Tony’s outstretched hand. Tony takes him out to a deep red convertible. It probably cost more than Peter’s car and wardrobe together. He was pulled from his thoughts by Tony opening the door.  
“It doesn’t bite. I promise.”  
Peter laughs despite himself and gets in. “Sorry. It’s just...really nice.”  
“Don’t let that intimidate or or make you feel like you have to try and impress me. Just be yourself.” Tony looks over with an unreadable expression. “For tonight I’m just a guy and so are you. No internationally known brain surgeon or famous Broadway performer. Tonight we can just be Tony and Peter.”  
Peter felt himself relax and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.  
“Yes. That sounds amazing. I’d love that.”  
Dinner was amazing. They went to an Italian place where Tony knew the chef. The conversation wasn’t forced, it felt natural and Peter loved it. But all to soon it came to an end.  
“Can we take the long way back?” Peter asked before he could stop himself. “I just...don’t want tonight to be over yet.”  
Tony looks over and smiled. The lights of the city made the older man’s eyes shine and made his skin glow. He looked almost angelic. Peter felt entranced.  
“Sure thing. I happen to enjoy being in your company.”  
They drove around for about a half an hour before they ended up back at the hospital. Peter felt like he was floating. He looks up as his door was opened and Tony offered his hand again. Peter takes it and stands. Their chests were almost touching now. Peter closes his eyes and closes the gap, on a whim. Then he jerked back, hitting his head on the edge of the windshield. Tony tried-and failed- to hide the smile on his face.  
“Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine. I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to and-”  
“You didn’t mean to kiss me?” Tony was still smiling.  
“Well, no. Unless...You liked it?”  
Tony just chuckles and kisses him, likely to stop his babbling.  
“Call me tomorrow after your audition and we can go celebrate.”  
“You don’t even know if I’ll get the part.”  
“But I do have a feeling.”  
“Alright, I’ll have to trust you then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“Good night Peter.”  
“Good night Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last sweet chapter before shit hits the fan. Hope you enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4

Peter was in a cloud of bliss the next day. He was waiting for nerves to set in, as his audition was at two. He ran through the song and the dance again, wondering if he should text Tony. He wanted to but also didn’t want to appear to clingy. Maybe a good morning text? That couldn’t hurt right? Peter unlocks his phone, pleasantly surprised to already see a text waiting.

_ Received  _ **_Tony:_ ** _ Good morning Stella~ How did you sleep? _

Peter tilts his head. Stella? Had he meant to send that to someone else? He felt a pant of disappointment.

_ Sent  _ **_Tony:_ ** _ Who’s Stella? My name is Peter. _

After that was sent, Peter’s phone started to ring and he panicked. He drops his phone and curses, scrambling to answer it.

“H-hello?”

_ “Good morning.”  _ The smile was obvious in his voice.

“So who is Stella?”

He hears Tony laughing and Peter smiles at the sound but feels as if he’s missing something.

“ _ Peter, you are Stella. I’m Italian. Stella is Italian for Star. Because you’re a star.” _

Peter feels himself blush. He felt stupid now.

_ “Hello? Peter?” _

“S-sorry. I just feel stupid now.”

_ “Peter, I’m not seeing anyone else. I promise.” _

“No I know that. I believe you. I just….I guess I’m just paranoid. It’s dumb. I’m so-”

_ “Peter. It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure out a nickname for you.” _

Now Peter felt terrible. 

“You don’t have to do that. It’s okay, really.”

_ “Peter.”  _ Tony  says gently.  _ “Are you okay? Really?” _

“Yeah.” Peter takes a deep breath. “I’m fine. I think it’s just nerves.”

_ “Take a deep breath Peter. You’ll do great. I believe in you.” _

“Thanks Tony. That means a lot coming from you.” 

_ “Okay I gotta go. I’ll call you at lunch?”  _

“Yeah. That sounds great. I’ll talk to you the. Have a good day Tony.”

_ “Shine on beautiful.” _

Peter couldn’t stop the smile on his face as the call ends. He puts his phone down on the bedside table and gets up. He had some time to kill before his audition and decided to spend it watching  _ Star Trek: The Next Generation.  _

\-----.------

Tony hangs up just as the elevator doors open and he nearly runs smack dab into Steve Rogers, his boss. 

“Woah there.” Rogers takes a step back. “Head in the clouds Stark?”

“Nah. I was just on the phone is all.”

“How’s your tumor patient doing?”

“Better now. He was awake and sitting up when Strange left last night. I’m about to go check on him.”

“Well keep me posted. Oh and I need to see you at lunch, okay?”

Confused, Tony finds himself nodding. 

“Alright, sure.”

“Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble.” Rogers gives a smile. 

“Well that’s a relief. I didn’t do anything wrong this time.”

Rogers laughs, patting his shoulder.

“This time.” He pushes the button on the elevator. 

“If you’re headed to peds, tell Bucky I said hi.” Tony calls over his shoulder, taking off down the hall. Everyone knew the big scary man had a soft spot for kids. Tony stops outside of Aaron’s room. There was a group of people in there. He knocks softly on the door frame and Aaron looks up at him. 

“Dr.. Stark.”

“Good morning Aaron. How are you feeling?”

“My arm is kinda numb but other than that, I feel fine.”

Numb? It could mean nothing but in this profession, you always had to be sure.

“How numb on a scale of one to ten?” Tony asked, coming forward and setting the clipboard down.A tall, skinny boy with shoulder length curly hair scrambles off the bed and sits in a nearby chair, pulling his legs up. His eyes never left Tony. “Which arm?”

“Right. And maybe a four?” 

“Can you feel this?” Tony taps his pen into the middle of Aaron’s right hand and the boy’s fingers twitch.

“It kinda feels like……” Aaron reaches out and ghosts the fingers of his left hand over Tony’s hand, just barely. He looks up, his dark eyes wide and scared. “Is that bad Dr. Stark?”

Tony bites the inside of his lip thoughtfully. 

“Honestly I’m not sure yet but we will keep an eye on it. If it gets worse or better, let me know, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Is he going to be okay?” A soft voice asked. Tony turns. It was the lanky kid. He looked terrified and Tony felt bad for him. Before he could answer, Aaron spoke.

“Spencer I’ll be fine.” He smiles. “Right Dr. Stark?”

“You should be fine.” Tony nods. “But we just wanna make sure. You can’t leave for a week anyway. You need time to heal from the operation.”

“See? I’ll be fine. I’m too stubborn to die anyway, you know that.”

The other kid- Spencer - nods a little. 

“Can I lay with him again?”

“Yeah. Go ahead kid.” Tony smiles and nods. He turns back to Aaron. “Where are your parents?”

“Missionary trip overseas.”

“So who are you hear with?”

“My girlfriend Haley-” He nods to a blonde girl who just entered. The girl, Haley, waves a little. “-and our boyfriend Spencer.” 

“Okay, are you staying with an adult or something while your parents are gone?”

“David Rossi. He works at the police station.” 

“I’ll give him a call and update him and be back here to check on you a bit.”

Tony turns and leaves the room, stopping to look in the window. Haley was sitting next to Aarons bed, holding his hand and Spencer was curled up at his side. It was sweet in kinda sad way. Tony moves to make his rounds, making his way down to the ER. A guy had split his head open trying to put up Christmas lights. 

“It doesn’t look too deep.” Tony says, tilting the guys head towards the light. “I’m going to stitch it up and give you something for the pain. We’re going to do an MRI just to make sure you don’t have a concussion.” 

The guy nods and sits still as Tony works. The work up was pretty quick and the MRI showed he didn’t have a concussion. Tony sent him on his way in an hour. He then makes his way up to Steve’s office. He knocks twice and then Steve opens the door. He smiles and waves him in. 

“Make yourself comfortable.”

Tony settles on the couch, one leg drawn up and his arm draped across the back.

“So you finally have time for the little people?” Tony teases. He knew being chief of surgery was a full time job and Steve was under a lot of pressure.

“Tony you’re my best friend, I always try to make time for you.” Steve smiles, but was obviously nervous. He was never good at hiding that.

“So what’s up?”

“I uh, purposed to Bucky last night.”

Tony sits up, a grin on his face.

“Well it’s about damn time!”

Steve gives a sheepish smile and looks down at his hands. 

“Yeah I know.” He looks back up and licks his lips. “I would like for you to be my best man.”

Tony gaped at him. “You mean it?”

“Of course I mean it. And you can bring a plus one. Maybe the dancer Stephen mentioned?” 

Tony’s eyes brighten at the mention of Peter. 

“You’re gonna love him.” He grins. “I’d be honored to be your best man. When is the wedding?”

“Um...We were thinking Christmas Eve.”

“That sounds beautiful.” Tony smiles again. “It’s been a long time coming.”

“Yeah. I agree. So does he.” Steve laughs a little. 

Tony thought it was nice to see Steve smile again. It hadn’t happened in a long time due to the stress of his promotion, but he did deserve it. Suddenly Tony sits up. 

“I gotta call Peter!”

“Okay you do that, I asked you what I meant to ask.”

“Congrats again. I’ll talk to you later?”

“I’ll be here.” Steve waves him off.

\-----.-----

Peter paces the hallway, waiting for Tony’s call. His audition was in twenty minutes and nerves were eating him alive. Just as he was at wit’s end, his phone rang. 

“Hello?”

_ “Hey what are you doing Christmas Eve?” _

Peter raises his eyebrow.

“Uh...nothing. Why?”

_ “Wanna be my plus one at one of my best friend’s wedding?” _

“That sounds like fun. I’ve never been to a Christmas wedding before.”

_ “Awesome! So, how’s your day going?” _

“Well I audition in twenty minutes and my nerves are crazy. Which is normal but I really want this part. I’ve dreamed of getting this part for as long as I can remember.”

_ “You’ll crush it. I have no doubt in my mind.” _

“I hope so too. So how is your day going?”

_ “Pretty good I think. My patient, the one that made me late last night, he seems to be doing a lot better and I fixed a guy’s head. He fell putting up Christmas lights.” _

Peter laughs. 

“Well is he okay at least?”

_ “Yeah. Just needed stitches. He had a hard head. Like someone else I know. How’s your head by the way?” _

“I’m fine. It didn’t hurt much when I hit it and it’s fine now.”

Peter was touched that Tony cared. 

_ “Well I’m glad. I’d hate to see such a lovely head damaged.” _

“My aunt says it’s to thick for my own good.”

_ “Ah well that just means your brain is protected.”  _ The smile was basically audible in Tony’s voice. 

Peter turned when he heard his name called. 

“Peter? The person who was supposed to go on before you didn’t show, so it’s your turn.” The director explains. 

Peter thanks him and turns back to the call.

“I gotta go. My audition got moved up.”

_ “Shine on beautiful. Knock em dead.” _

“I’ll call you soon as I’m done.” He promised and hangs up. He squared his shoulders and makes his way to the stage, taking his place. He closed his eyes and takes a deep breath. The music starts and Peter is suddenly fine. All his nerves disappear. 

The dance involve a lot of footwork and Peter felt that he had it down. That was until his feet got caught and he crumpled, crying out in pain. His head cracked against the stage as pain shoots up his leg. Then all went dark.

\-----.-----

Pepper rolls her shoulders as an ambulance pulled up. 

“What do we got?” She asked an EMT.

“Shattered leg and likely a fracture on the skull. Felt like his entire leg is broken. It’s pretty bad.” 

Pepper immediately leapt into action, helping get the gurney down. Her stomach dropped when she sees the face of the person on the stretcher. She turns to an intern standing with her.

“Page Stark. Now.”

“Stark? But shouldn’t we page ortho-”

“Page Stark! Now! Put ‘Iron’. He’ll know what it means.” 

That was their code word for ‘drop everything and get your ass here to help me’. Pepper hurries along side the paramedics. 

“Peter? Peter! Stay with me!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about medical stuff so all I know is from Google and doctor shows. Feel free to correct anything!

Tony looked down as his pager went off. He sits his fork down and picks it up. His fork falls to the table and he jumps up.  _ Oh shit.  _ He darts out of the cafeteria and heads down to where Pepper was. 

“Pepper, what-” He stops dead, seeing the pale face on the bed. “ _Peter?_ ”  His voice is barely a whisper. He looked at Pepper.”What the hell happened to him?”

“I don’t know.” She says softly. “He hasn’t woken up yet.”

“I just talked to him less than an hour ago! He was fine then…” Tony runs a shaky hand through his hair.

“Tony are you going to be able to work this case?”

“If I’m needed. Has he damaged any nerves?”

“We’re about to find out.” She says. 

Peter stirs with a groan and a cry of pain. The honey colored eyes fly open.

“Tony?”

Tony was at his side immediately. 

“Peter, what happened?”

“Tony, it hurts. It hurts a lot. I can’t feel my-my leg.” Peter is crying now, his pretty face skewed in pain. 

“Peter. I need you to tell me what happened.”  Tony says, trying to fight back his own tears. By some miracle, he was able to keep his voice steady. 

“I was dance-dancing!” He cried out again and tried to grab at his leg but that only made him cry out again. “I fell!” He yells and squeezes his eyes shut. It made Tony’s heart hurt. 

“We’re going to see exactly what happened. We’re are going to fix this and you’ll be dancing again soon. I promise.”

Peter nods, his eyes still shut and he was still crying. 

“Get him some pain killers and let me know as soon as you find out how bad this is.” 

“Tony! Please….Don’t leave. Please.” Peter reached for him. “Don’t leave me alone. I need…..I need….” He shifts and cries out again.

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here.” Tony smooths his hand through Peter’s hair. “We’re gonna get you all fixed up. I promise.” He whispers. “We gotta get you up to x-ray and check your leg okay?” 

“Just make the pain stop!” 

Tony looks up at Pepper as a new person enters the room. Natasha Romanova, an orthopedic surgeon. Tony makes eye contact and she nods. Tony stands, but Peter has an iron grip. 

“Please-” 

“Peter we are going to go look at your leg now.”

“I’m scared.” 

“Peter, my name is Dr. Romanova. I’m going to be doing your x-ray.”

 

Peter looks up at Tony. He felt his leg getting numb and he felt that was a bad sign.

“Tony I can’t feel my leg.”

“We need to get this looked at. Now. Peter, Dr. Romanova is very good at what she does and she is going to get you fixed up okay?” 

Peter squeezes Tony’s hand and nods just a little. 

“Just...help me.” He whimpers. 

“Let’s get going.” The red haired doctor says, and Peter feels Tony get up. HIs eyes fly open. 

“Tony?” Peter gasped. 

“Don’t worry. I’m here. I just can’t ride the bed up to x-ray.”

“Come with me?”

“Of course he’s coming.” Dr. Romanova speaks up. “Tony get your ass up and comfort your man.” She commands. Peter decided he liked her. 

“Down girl.” Peter hears Tony say. He would have laughed if he didn’t hurt so much. Tony’s face came into view and he felt a gentle touch on his face. “I’m here. Just relax and everything will be fine.”

\-----.-----

Tony stood in the middle of the lab room, looking at Peter’s x-rays. 

“He shattered the entire leg.” He swore softly. He looks at Natasha. “Can you fix it? You have to fix it. Performing is his whole life.”

Natasha looks at him. “I can fix it. But Tony….He will never dance again. He never should never have danced in the first place. He has very weak bones in his legs. It’s a wonder he hadn’t hurt himself this bad before.”  

The words hang in the room and Tony was sure he could feel his heart break. He takes a deep breath.

“I’m not done.” She continues softly. “I’m going to have to put a rod in his leg and I’m almost certain that he damaged nerves in his leg. He’s going to need physical therapy in order to walk again.”

“Is that all?” Tony asked softly, fighting to keep his voice even.

“Yes.” She licks her lips.

“Let me tell him. Please.” Tony looks away from the x-rays. They were burned into his mind forever. He shudders and pulls his head up.

“Of course. But he’s sleeping now so you’re gonna have to wait.”

Tony nods a little. “This is going to destroy him.”

“I know.” She says softly. She squeezes his shoulder and Tony watches her leave. At that moment, Stephen walks in. He pulls Tony into a hug, which surprised him because Stephen wasn’t a touchy person. 

“How bad?” He asked softly.

“He’s never going to dance again.” Tony answers, pulling back and looking up. “I lied to him Stephen. He’s going to hate me.”

“Tony he isn’t going to hate you. This isn’t your fault.” 

“No, but I lied to him. I told him that he’d be okay and he’d be dancing again in no time. He just auditioned for his dream roll. And it’s almost as if we’re taking his gift away from him.”

“Tony.” Stephen says softly. “He will get through this. He has you to help him.”

“It’s just not fair. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s a good person. Kind and sweet and he doesn’t let the fame get to his head. He-he-”

Stephen puts a hand on Tony’s shoulder. 

“He will get through this. You both will, together. He will find his place.”

Tony nods a little, letting out a soft sob. Stephen sits beside him quietly as he breaks down. 

“It’s going to ruin his life Stephen. I’m going to have to ruin his life.”

Stephen tilts Tony’s chin up. “You are going to help him through this. You are strong and so is he.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know you Antony. If anyone can do this, it’s you.” Stephen looks at him in the eyes deeply with parted lips. Then he shakes his head a little and takes a step back. “Go to him.”

“Thank you.” Tony whispers, turning and leaving the room.

\-----.-----

When Peter blinked awake, Tony and Dr. Romanova were standing at the end of his bed. He smiled a little. 

“Hey. Can you fix me?” He asked with a small smile.

“I can. But You’ll have to have a rod put in your leg. You shattered the entire thing.”

“So going through airport security is going to be hell.” Peter jokes. So much to working for West End. 

“Peter-” Dr. Romanova starts but Tony interrupts. 

“Your surgery to fix your leg will be in an hour. Afterwards, you’re going to need therapy in order to walk correctly again.” 

“So I’m down and out for a bit…” Peter nods a little. He needed to call the director and let him know he’d be out for a bit. He looks up at Tony. “You’ll be there won’t you? When I’m being operated on?”

Tony takes a deep breath. “I cannot operate on you as we have a personal relationship, but my best friend, Dr. Strange, is the best neurosurgeon I know. You will be in amazing hands I promise. And I’ll be in the gallery watching the whole thing.”

Peter was more scared now that he knew Tony wasn’t operating but if Tony trusted this Dr. Strange, he could as well. He nods a little. 

“Okay. I believe you.” He looks around. “Can I have my phone? I need to call my director.” 

Dr. Romanova gives Tony a look and hands the device over. Tony makes a "Y" shape with his hands and brings them down a few inches, his palms outward; shaking his head. Her eyes narrow and her lips thin into a white line.

Peter turns his gaze away from them and dails the director, who picks up on the third ring.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hello, this is Peter Parker. I auditioned earlier?”

_ “The one who fell. How are you doing?” _

“I’m actually calling to withdraw my audition because of my injury. I won’t be healed enough to even consider being in the show.”

_ “That is unfortunate. You had an amazing audition until the fall. You easily got the part.” _

Peter felt like crying. The words cut deep.

“Thank you for the consideration.” He says, managing to hold his voice steady. “Break a leg and give my best to the one who got the part.”

He hangs up and lets the phone fall onto the bed, squeezing his eyes shut. He shook a little and felt a hand on his arm. 

“Peter?” Tony asked softly. 

Peter opens his eyes and looked up. 

“I got the part. Well, I had the part.”

 

Tony feels as if he had been punched in the gut. 

“Oh Peter, I’m so sorry.”  Natasha says softly.

“It’s not like it’s your fault. I’ll just try again next time.”

Tony takes a breath and looks up at him. 

“Peter…”

Peter looks up with a brave smile. Tony didn’t have the heart to tell him just yet and shakes his head.

“There was no doubt in my mind that you would have gotten that part.”

“Okay let's get you prepped for surgery okay?” Natasha cuts them off, and starting pre-ops.

\----.-----

Stephen looks up as the door to the anteroom of the OR. Tony looked like a mess. 

“You haven’t told him yet, have you?”  He asked, drying his hands and sliding on gloves.

“I couldn’t do it. Not yet.” Tony inhales deeply. “I am going to after the surgery. I swear.”

Stephen gives a small tight smile and nods. “Tony, I believe you and if you need me, I will always be here.”

Tony nods, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes. He clears his throat and nods. “Kick ass Strange.”

Stephen nods and ties his mask before pushing into the OR. He looks over at Natasha and nods.

“Alright everyone. It’s time to give an artist back his leg.” He glances up to the balcony where Tony had gone. He was leaning forward, his hands clasped tightly. He looked down at the man on the table and takes a breath. “For Tony.”

\-----.-----

The next time Peter wakes up, he’s back in his room and Tony was sitting beside the bed. He looks over.

“How’d I do?” He asked, his voice was a bit rough. Tony smiles fondly though.

“You did great. The surgery went really well and you now have a metal rod in your leg.”

“How long before I can dance again?”

Tony tenses, looking down before looking back up. Peter’s blood ran cold.  _ No no no. It can’t be true! I worked to hard for this.  _

“Tony?” Peter asked softly. He needed to hear it out loud if it was true.

“Peter, you can’t dance anymore. You should have never been able to in the first place. The bones in your legs are basically as strong as glass.” Tony’s voice grows softer. “I’m so so sorry.”

Peter shakes his head. “No.” HIs voice cracks. “You’re wrong. You have to be.”

“We aren’t. Natasha says it’s a miracle that you were going this long.”

“You lied to me.” Peter accuses. “You promised…” He is crying openly now. “You’re a liar! Go. I can’t look at you right now!” He squeezes his eyes tightly. “I put my entire life into this. I can’t do anything else. You gave me hope and lied to me in the process. I can’t forgive you.”


	6. Chapter 6

Peter’s words cut Tony like a knife. He backs out of the room slowly, making his way out in a daze. He should have known better than to make those promises. It was a stupid thing to do. How was he supposed to make this up? Would he even be able to? Where did he go from here? He leans against the wall and just breathes for a moment. He needed something to keep him busy so he heads down to the ER. He needs something to distract him. Anything really. He looks around then leans over the desk. 

“What do we got?”

\-----.-----

Peter lay still, still a bit shocked at the news. It is just his luck that he lands his dream roll and it’s ripped away from him. What was he supposed to do with his life now? He presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, stopping the tears that slipped out. He wanted to scream but he knew it would be pointless. He had a hunk of metal in his leg and no amount of screaming himself sick would change that. He looks down at his injured leg and carefully touched it. A spike of pain shot up his leg and he winces, biting his lip. His mind wandered to Tony. Tony with his stupid pretty face and kind words. Didn’t he know better than to give a dancer false hope of getting their leg back? What an idiot. 

Peter looks up when another person enters the room. It looked like a nurse. She had kind eyes and red hair. Peter couldn’t help but smile.

“Dinner time.” She announces.

“Thank you.” Even though he didn’t feel like eating, he was raised with manners. 

“Between you and me, the burgers in the cafeteria aren’t bad but don’t trust the fish sticks.” The nurse says, looking up and winking playfully.

“Noted.” Peter shifts and groans softly. “My name is Peter, but you probably already knew that.”

The nurse with the kind eyes smiles and nods. 

“My name is Wanda.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Go for it.”

“Are there a lot of redheads here? I-I’ve seen like seven redheads nurses just walk by while I was laying here, plus there’s you and Dr.Romanova.”

Wanda looks up from the chart and laughs. It was a light pleasant sound. 

“There are quite a few. Maybe we should start a club.”

“Yeah, maybe you should.” Peter agrees, picking at his food.

“I’m not going to leave until you eat.” Wanda warns. “I’ll go get Tony if you don’t.”

Peter tenses, looking up at her. No Tony. He couldn’t face Tony right now.

“No.” He says, it sounding a bit harsher than he intended. “I’ll eat.”

Wanda looks at him, seeming to be in deep thought. She nods once, before turning to check his vitals. Peter eats in silence, glancing at her every so often. She seemed to have good intentions. Peter respected that much. 

“Thank you.” Peter says, breaking the silence and pushing the empty plate away.

“You’re welcome.” She smiles. “Full?”

“Yeah. It was pretty good.”

“I told you. God knows I’ve eaten in that cafeteria more often than I care for.”

“Yeah but is it worth it?”

She stops writing and meets his gaze. “Yes. More than.”

“If you couldn’t do this….what would you do?”

Wanda is silent for a moment before tucking her hair behind her ear and sitting on the edge of his bed. 

“This is about you not being able to dance any more, isn’t it?” She asked softly. 

Peter meets her eyes. “It’s rude to answer a question with a question.”

She sighs and nods. “I know. I’m sorry.” She takes a breath. “If I couldn’t do this, I’d find some other way to help the less fortunate. That’s my life mission I guess you could say.”

“That’s sweet.”

“What about you Peter? What are you going to do?”

Peter lays back completely and groans, laying his arm across his eyes. “I don’t have a clue honestly. All I know is performing.”

“No.” 

Peter peaks out at her. “Excuse me?”

“I think there’s more to you than just being onstage.”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong Miss Wanda.”

“I don’t think I am.” Wanda smiles a little. “Just give it time.” She stands and pats his shoulder. “Get some rest Peter. You need it.”

\-----.-----

Tony drags himself to the attendings lounge and sinks into the couch with a groan. James, “Bucky” Barnes, a pediatric surgeon, looks up from his book.

“Rough day?” He asked, marking his page and closing the book, setting it down on the table. He absentmindedly rubs at the shoulder of his prosthetic arm, which Steve liked to draw on with sharpies and paint markers. The chief has a knack for art. Currently the arm was adorned with flowers and leaves. The children loved it. 

“You could say that.” Tony says, rubbing his temples. “And it’s only….” He looks down at his watch. “Nevermind, it’s almost nine-thirty.” 

“What happened?”

Tony looks over at him, dropping his arm. 

“Peter hates me.”

“Peter?” Bucky asked, obviously confused.

“Peter Parker-”

“Oh! The one Stevie told me about. He seems nice. Sorry, I spent the day in the NICU.” Realizing he cut Tony off, Bucky at least looked sheepish. “Sorry, go on. Why does he hate you?”

Tony takes a breath and sits up straight.

“He got hurt during an audition today and he fell. Shattered his entire leg. Apparently he has super weak leg bones.” He pauses, staring at the floor. “It was his dream roll, super important to him. I told him we could fix his leg and get him up and dancing in no time.” His voice drops off towards the end. 

Bucky sighs softly. “He is never going to dance again, is he?”

Tony shakes his head. “Tasha managed to fix his leg, adding rods to keep him from hurting himself again. He’s mad because I gave him hope of getting better. It was stupid but I wasn’t really thinking about it.”

“Tony,” Tony looks up, surprised that Bucky used his first name. “He is going to get better, he just won’t be able to dance again. He still has his voice so maybe he can do something with that.”

Tony nods a little. “Once he’s fully healed, Tasha wants to start his PT so he can work on walking again.”

“Well with her help and your support, he’ll be better in no time.” A new voice joined the conversation. Bucky’s eyes brighten instantly and Tony jumps a little, turning to see Steve leaning against the doorway. 

“What do I do about him being pissed at me though?”

“Give him time. He’s hurt and vulnerable right now. Bucky was the same way when he lost his arm in that accident.”

“Maybe I should go visit him.” Bucky suggests. “I’m not on call tomorrow.”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Steve smiles a little.

“Would you? I think it would be good to let him see that his injury isn’t the end of the world.”

“It’s a plan then.”

“Are you going to be okay Tony?” Steve asked gently, coming to sit beside him. 

“Yeah.” Tony takes a deep breath and let’s it out slowly. “I have to be, don’t I?”

“Stark, it’s okay to not be okay.” Bucky points out. 

“I’ll be fine.” Tony stands. “I’m going to go see if Stephen wants to go get a drink.” He pauses at the doorway. “Congrats you two, by the way. It’s about damn time.” He manages a real smile this time.

Tony wanders the hospital, looking for Stephen, when he finds himself outside of Peter’s room. He stands still, looking in the window. Peter was asleep and the color had returned to his face. Tony debated if he should go in or not. He ended up settling on ‘not’ and slowly walks away. He runs into Wanda. 

“Hey Wanda-”

“Dr. Stark, I’m worried about Peter.”

Tony stopped dead and looked at her.

“I’m afraid he’s going to sink into depression. He is set on how he’s nothing without performing. I think it’s going to drive him crazy.” 

“What can we do to help him?”

“I don’t know. I think he needs you though.”

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t want me.” Tony says bitterly.

Wanda is quiet for a moment. She sighs and turns away.

“In due time Tony. Believe me.” 

Tony nods and waves her off, deciding to give up looking for Stephen and just heading to the bar. He wanted to drown his feelings. 

\-----.-----

Stephen finally settled down with a glass of red wine and his favorite book when the doorbell rang. He sighs and sits the book down. Who the hell would be here at this hour? He finally gets a moment of rest and hear someone was to bother him again. He opens the door and the reek of alcohol hits him before he even sees who it is. It is a very drunk Tony Starik.

“Tony, what the hell are you doing here? How drunk are you?”

“Hey Stranger Things. Can I come in?” The speech was slurred and Stephen had to grasp his arm to keep him from falling face first into the hardwood. Well that answered one question. Stephen hauled Tony into the living room and onto the couch, where he kinda just flopped over.

“Tony, why are you here? Not that I don’t enjoy your company but-”

“You talk to much.”

Stephen glares at him.

“And you’re an ass.” He retorts and picks up his book again. 

Tony whines a little. “Stephen Nn”

“What?” Stephen looks over the top of his book at his pouting friend.

“Pay attention to me!”

“Why should I?” Stephen sets the book back down and raises an eyebrow. “You show up here in the middle of the night smelling like a bar and demanding my attention like I owe it to you.” His tone was not accusing but it was annoyed. 

Tony sits up and stares at him. “Why are you so sad?”

“It’s nothing.” Stephen did not want to have this conversation while Tony was drunk off his ass because his boyfriend was upset.

“You’re lying~” Tony cooed. 

“I’m not having this conversation right now. You need to sleep.”

“So there is something wrong! Tell me!” 

“Anthony Edward Stark, shut the hell up and go to sleep. You have work in the morning.”

Tony looks surprised at the use of his full name and smirks, standing up. 

“I’ll be in the guest room.”

Stephen waves him off, finishing his drink before putting the glass in the sink and heading to bed himself. He makes his way through the dark, towards his bed. He didn’t notice the dark lump until he landed on it and a voice yelps. Stephen jerks back and turns on the light.

“Tony what the hell are you doing in my bed?!?”

“Waiting for you?”

“...Why?”

Tony props up on his elbows and smirks, leaning up and planting a kiss on Stephen’s lips. Stephen froze for a moment before pushing him away. 

“No Tony. Don’t.” He backs away, one hand going to his hair.

“Please?” He sounded vulnerable, scared, broken. “I need you. You’re my best friend.”

Stephen tightens jaw, fighting back feeling bubbling up. 

“No Tony. You don’t. You just think you do. You don’t need me. You need  _ him.” _ He turns, walking out of the room.

“Where are you going?” Tony calls.

Stephen stopped, looking over his shoulder.

“The guest room. You can stay here tonight. Sleep.” 

With that, Stephen leaves his room, going to a guest room and falling into a restless sleep.

 

The next morning, Tony wakes up to an empty house.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony looks around, unsure where he was at first. He started to recognize his surroundings. Stephen's room? More specifically Stephen's bed. Then the panic set in. He didn't really remember anything from the previous night. What the hell happened? Did he- Did they-

Tony climbs out of the bed, noting with relief, that he was fully clothed.

"Stephen?" He calls, padding out into the living room and then the kitchen. It was empty. Then he noticed the time. Eleven thirty.

"Shit!" Tony scrambles around before trying to call Stephen and getting voice mail. That's when he noticed the sticky note on the door.

_Tony, don't bother coming today. I told Rogers you're sick. No more drinking and don't bother looking as I have gotten rid of all of mine and stopped by your place. Go rest and shower. You smell terrible. I'll know if you don't. And don't bother calling, I'm busy all day. I'll see you later._

The note was written in Stephen's careful, neat handwriting. Though it was written, Tony could hear Stephen speaking in his head, cold and careful. He sighs and pulls on his shoes and jacket. He needed to find out exactly what happened.

\-----.------

Peter looks up as a doctor he didn't recognize entered his room. He was big compared to Tony. He had a fake arm too, which Peter found pretty cool. The arm was decorated with swirls and music notes.

"Hi?" Peter asked, sitting up.

"Hello."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Bucky. I'm a peds surgeon."

"Peds?"

"I work with kids."

Peter tilts his head. "You do know I'm an adult right? Did Tony tell you I was-"

"No Tony didn't tell me you were a kid. I am aware of your age."

"So-not to be rude at all- why are you here?"

Bucky laughs, sitting down. "You see this here?" He gestures to his prosthetic arm.

'Um..yes?" Peter answers, confused.

Bucky looks at him thoughtfully.

"I was in the same predicament you're in years ago."

Peter blinks, not understanding at first. The he leans back, his eyes narrowed.

"You can still do what you love. I literally cannot."

Bucky stared at him, obviously choosing his next words very carefully.

"Peter, when I was younger, I never wanted to come anywhere near a hospital if I didn't want to. I was a cop right here in New York City. One of the best on the precinct. There was a bomber that took out an entire city block, about thirteen years ago."

Peter nods. "I remember that. I just started seventh grade when that happened." His voice was small, careful.

"I almost had the guy when part of the building collapsed and trapped me and a pregnant woman. She went into labor and I had to deliver her baby myself. At that point I had no training at all. But the little boy seemed healthy. We stayed there until the EMTs came to get us. We managed to get her out but part of the building collapsed. I was knocked back and pinned under a peice of the building. I couldn't feel my arm and I blacked out. Next thing i know, I'm in the hospital with a missing arm. That's the day I met Steve Rogers. He was just an intern at the time but he helped so much. Never put up with any of my bullshit and called me out on it every time. He helped me get back on my feet and made me realize that there was more to life than chasing down bad guys and paperwork."

Peter smiles a little. "Yeah but saving people is what you've always done. You're just doing it differently. I can't even do what I'm good at anymore. There is no way around it."

"Well feeling sorry for yourself won't make it any better." Bucky says, crossing his arms. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know!" The words came out louder than he intended, and he winced a little. The silence settled heavily in the small room.

Bucky stands up. "You'll figure it out. Don't be stupid and give up here. You'll regret it."

\-----.-----

Tony stared blankly at the wall of his living room. He needed to find out what happened with Stephen. It wasn't like him to not answer his phone. If he didn't, he always texted. But Tony had called twenty eight times and no response at all. Maybe Pepper knew? Sitting up straight, he called Pepper. She answered on the first ring.

_"Tony? How are you feeling?"_

"Like hell." He answers honestly.

_"What happened?"_

"I'm not actually sure-"

 _"You got drunk again."_  It wasn't a question.

"Can you do me a favor?" Tony asked. He hated asking for favors but it needed to be done.

_"Depends on what that favor is."_

"Can you find out what's wrong with Stephen? He won't talk to me. At all."

Pepper sucked in a breath.

_"Tony what did you do?"_

"That's the thing. I don't know?"

 _"My god Tony."_ She sighs. Tony could picture her rubbing her forehead in his mind, the way she always did when he did something stupid.  _"Yeah I'll see what I can find out."_

"Thank you. You're the best."

_"Yes, I know."_

"Hey if you see him, can you have him check on Aaron for me?"

_"He's in there now."_

"Alright. Good."

_"Peter talked to Bucky today."_

"Oh? How did that go?"

_"Bucky told Peter the story of how he lost his arm."_

All the attendings at the hospital knew the story. It still chilled them when it was brought up. Tony is quiet for a few minutes. He had no idea what to say.

_"He is starting PT day after next."_

Grateful for the subject change, Tony winces a little.

"Oh that's gonna be fun." He says sarcastically.

_"Tasha won't take any crap from him."_

"I think it'll do him good to get up and walk about a little."

_"Yeah-"_

Tony her a conversation in the background he couldn't quite make out then Pepper was back.

_"I gotta go. There's been a crash."_

"Go kick ass."

\-----.-----

Stephen turns into Aaron's room after updating himself by reading the chart. As he enters the room, the tall boy next to the bed visibly tenses. The blonde girl on the other side stands and holds out her hand.

"Come on Spence. Let's go get some food."

Silently, the boy nods and stands. As they past, the girl whispers

"He doesn't like new people."

Once they left the room, Aarn finally spoke.

"Where's Dr. Stark?"

Stephen bites the inside of his cheek.

"He's sick. He'll be back tomorrow."

"Is he okay?"

It was sweet that this kid is concerned. Stephen found himself almost smiling.

"Yeah. It's just a head cold is all."

"Oh. That's good. So what's your name?"

It was then that Stephen realized that he hadn't introduced himself.

"I'm Dr. Strange. I'm filling in for Dr. Stark today."

"Dr. Strange?" Aaron smiles a little. "I bet you get a lot of crap with a name like that."

Stephen laughs. He liked this kid.

"Yeah, to-Dr. Stark likes to tease me about it. I've probably heard every joke there is about it."

"Well at least it's not as weird as Hotchner."

"I think Hotchner is kinda badass. You could be called Hotch and be like an FBI assassin."

"You know, that's not a bad idea."

"So how are you feeling Agent Hotchner?" Stephen asked with a grin and a wink.

"Better. I can feel my arm now."

"That's good. If all keeps up, you should be able to leave tomorrow."

"Really?" Aaron grins.

"Really."

He looks towards the window. "And it looks like your people are back. If you need anything just let me know, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you."

With a nod, Stephen leaves the room. He puts the chart back on the nurse's station and turns to see Pepper.

"Ah hello."

"Hey are you busy?" She asked.

"No. What's up?"

"I know Tony was at your place last night." She starts.

"Pepper-"

"I need to know what happened." She says gently.

Stephen looks around an takes a breath. He trusted her. She was the only one who knew his secret. That he was in love with Tony.

"Not here." He said, turning and going to the nearest supply closet. Pepper follows him in.

"Stephen?"

Stephen turns to face her.

"He showed up to my place, drunk off his ass. Probably due to this Peter situation. He said he wanted attention but I know how he is when he's drunk. I sent him to a guest room and finished the chapter I was reading before going to bed myself. Instead of going to a guest room, he went to my bed." He pauses and stares at the floor.

"Did something happen? Did you two-"

"He kissed me." Stephen says and Pepper's words trail off.

"He kissed you?"

Stephen nods silently, running a hand through his hair.

"Did you kiss him back?"

Stephen shakes his head. "I couldn't. Not when I wasn't the one he wanted. Did he tell you?"

Pepper sighs and shakes her head. "He doesn't remember."

"Of course not." Stephen lets out a dry laugh. "He's not going to. I'm not- I can't tell him. I can't face that."

"You should tell him eventually Stephen."

"Well it doesn't matter now, does it?"

\-----.------

Peter looks up as a nurse came in the room. It wasn't Wanda this time, but a tall black man with nice hair.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"Where is Miss Wanda?"

"She's at home today." He smiles a little. "I am T'challa."

"Oh. Well T'challa, my name is Peter."

"Yes I know. Tony is very worried about you. It's making him crazy in the head."

Peter stared at him in disbelief.

"How about, let him know how are feeling."

Peter is silent, watching T'challa check his vitals and offer him a smile. A knowing smile full of warmth. Taking a deep breath, Peter pulls out his phone and dials.

"Tony?" He says, barely a whisper.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony was almost asleep when his phone started blaring ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran. That was the ringtone he set for Peter. Was he hallucinating? Why would Peter be calling him? Scrambling for his phone, he answers it.

“H-hello?” Amazingly, his voice sounded steadier than he felt.

_ “Tony?” _

“Peter. You’re real.” His voice was as soft as Peter’s was. 

_ “ Of course I’m real.”  _ The tiniest bit of a smile shone through the younger man’s voice.  _ “I know I was an ass to you and I don’t blame you if you hate me but do you think...You could come up here?” _

“Peter...I don’t hate you.”

There is silence for a moment. 

_ “Can you come up here?”  _ Peter’s voice wavers a little.  _ “Please? I need to see you.” _

“I’m on my way.” 

_ “Thank you.”  _

Tony pulls on his shoes and looks around for his keys. 

_ Tony?” _

“Yes love?” Tony asked, sliding out his door and locking it. 

_ “Can…..can you stay on the line until you get here? You’re voice is comforting. It’s the one thing that I have from before.” _

Tony doesn’t have an answer for that. He just wanted to hold Peter and never let him go. 

“Yeah, I’ll stay on the line. So talk to me. How are you feeling? Are they treating you okay?”

_ “I’m starting to get feeling in my leg again, which hurts like hell by the way but painkillers are a blessing. I’ve noticed there are a lot of redheads here. Oh and Dr. Romanova says I can start PT in a few days so I suppose that’s good.” _

Tony chuckles a little. 

“Have you met T’Challa King yet?”

_ “Oh yeah! He’s nice.” _

“His sister works in plastics. I think you two would get along.”

_ “Maybe I’ll meet her. I seem to be meeting a lot of people. I met a guy from peds today.” _

“Guy from peds?”

_ “Big guy. Kinda scary looking. Ex cop with a fake arm that’s all doodled up?” _

“Ah. Bucky. Don’t let how he looks scare you. He’s a big softie, especially around Steve.”

_ “Steve? The guy who helped him?” _

“Peter, Steve and Bucky are engaged. Theirs is the wedding I invited you to.”

_ “Oh! That’s sweet. So when do I get to meet Steve then? It’s only fair if I meet both halves of the couple. And they are friends of yours so it's fair right?”  _ Peter babbles a little

“I’ll see if I can set something up. We’ll do lunch or something. How does that sound?”

_ “Only if you want to. I don’t want to impose.” _

“I’m sure they’d love to. Steve has already asked twice. He’s kinda old fashioned in his ways. He wants to take us out and pay for it himself. He’s such a dad but it’s sweet.”

_ “Well okay….If he insists.” _

Tony smiles. “Well I can’t exactly argue with my boss.”

_ “Yeah that is true.” _

Tony pulls into the parking lot and turns his car off. 

“Do you want me to bring you something from the cafeteria?” He asked, suddenly remembering he hadn’t eaten all day.

_ “Um….not fish sticks.” _

“I see you talked to Wanda.”

_ “Yeah. She’s really nice.” _

“That she is. How does grilled cheese sound?”

_ “That sounds amazing. And a hot chocolate?’ _

“Your wish is my command.”

_ “You are the best.” _

“Yes so I’ve been told.” 

_ “Hurry up here. I really wanna see you.” _

“I’ll be there soon. I gotta hang up now so I can order okay?”

_ “Okay bye. See you soon.” _ __   
  


Tony heads up to Peter’s room, sandwich in hand. On his way, he spots a familiar streak of white hair. 

“Stephen!” He calls. 

Stephen stops and looks over at him. His face goes through a whole range of emotions that Tony couldn’t quite read. He sets the chart down and makes his way over.

“So I take it you’re feeling better?”

“Yeah. Thanks for letting me stay over.”

“It’s no problem. I’d rather know you were safe than dead in a ditch somewhere.”

Tony nods a little. 

“So what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m actually here to see Peter.”

“Peter?”

Tony grins widely. 

“Yeah. He called and asked me to come up.”

“Oh. That’s wonderful.” Stephen smiles a little, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Okay, what happened last night?” Tony asked, worried. “Did I do something stupid? Did we do something-”

Stephen raised a hand, shutting Tony up.

“No, we didn’t do anything. You wanted attention and I sent you to bed but instead of going to the guest room, you decided to sleep in my bed. So I slept in the guest room.”

Tony’s smile fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you out.”   
  
“I’m not worried about it. You were drunk so I saw no point in arguing with you.”

“Yeah. I am an unreasonable drunk.”

“Don’t flatter yourself Antony. You’re always unreasonable.” Stephen teases, seeming to relax a little.

“Well I think that depends on who you ask.”

Stephen rolls his eyes and pats Tony’s back. “Go on. He’s waiting for you.”

“I’ll talk to you later?” He asked, turning to go to Peter’s room.

“I’ll be here.”

\-----.-----

Peter looks up with a careful smile as Tony enters his room.

“Tony.” He breathes softly, wanting to reach for the older man but holds back.

Tony however, moved to sit beside him and hands over the burger with a smile.

“I missed you Peter.” Tony says, breaking the silence. That made the dam inside Peter break wide open.

“Tony I’m so sorry. I snapped at you and it was wrong. I was an idiot and I shouldn’t have said those things. None of this is your fault. It’s my own fau-”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Tony says, leaning over with a tiny smile. “Peter, I don’t blame you for acting the way you did. Hell, if I were in your situation, I’d probably be worse.”

Peter opens his mouth to protest again but Tony leans over and kisses him gently, effectively shutting him up. When Tony pulled away, Peter stared at him.

“Is this going to be a thing now? You kissing me to shut me up?”

“Hm. Yes, I think it is.”

Peter blushed a little. “O-oh. Okay.”

“So have I missed much?”

“No, not really. Though I do have a question.”

“Ask away.” Tony props his feet on the edge of the bed and smiles.

“Nurse King wouldn’t happen to be related to Shuri King, would he?” 

Tony sits up straight in surprise. “You know her?”

“She’s dating a friend of mine.” Peter grins. “Michelle Jones.”

“Ah well I don’t know Shuri to well, but I do know she’s a great person.”

“Oh yeah. She’s super sweet. The two of them are great together except when they get pissed off. Then it’s scary.”

Tony laughs softly again and sits up to take Peter’s hand in his own. He intwines their fingers and looks up into Peter’s eyes. He could listen to the younger man talk for hours.

“What about you? What have you been up too since I flew off the handle.”

“Well I worked in the ER and did a surgery or two.”

“Anything interesting?”

“A guy had a branch go through his leg.”

“Anything else?”

“Um….I got drunk and ended up at Stephen’s house?”

Peter giggles a little. “Is there something that happens often?”

“Me gettin drunk or me going to bother Stephen?”

“Both? EIther one?” 

“I don’t drink a whole lot anymore. I used to be an alcoholic and I realized that was just like my father and I don’t want to do that. As for me bothering Stephen,” Tony smirks. “I do that as often as I can.”

“So do I get to meet this Stephen?”

“Do you want me to go get him?” Tony asked, moving to get up. 

Peter makes grabby hands at Tony, stopping him from getting up. “I don’t want to bother him. I don’t want to be a bother.” He catches his bottom lip between his teeth.

 

Tony chuckles a little. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure he isn’t doing anything right now. It’s late and most people are sleeping.”

“Are you sure?”

Tony runs his fingers along Peter’s lip, gently pulling it free from his teeth.

“You’ll get blisters.” He says softly. “And yeah. Just give me a minute.”

Pressing a kiss to Peter’s head, Tony stands and leaves the room. Heading back towards the nurse’s station, he looks around for Stephen. Not seeing him, he heads for an on-call room. He hears the sound of soft crying through the cracked door and peeks in, concerned. 

“Hello?” He calls.

\-----.-----

Stephen watches Tony head towards Peter’s room and smiles softly. It was good that Tony was so happy again. He finishes his rounds and finds an empty on-call room.  He pauses by the young ex-performers room. Tony looked so peaceful talking to him. It was something Stephen hadn’t seen in a while. He enters the room and sits on one of the beds. As he sits in the dark, his thoughts seem to settle around him. His mind goes back to the kiss and Stephen squeezes his eyes shut tight, feeling heat rise in his face. If it was any other circumstance, he’d be giddy with joy. Though maybe this could help him get over his feelings. Except it didn't. It just confused him more. He knew Tony would never feel that way about him but the words kept repeating in his head.

_ “I need you…..” _

_ “You’re my best friend….” _

Putting one hand over his eyes, he feels the tears slip out, making hot tracks down his cheeks. Sometimes a man just needs a good cry. Stephen did have a terrible habit of burying his feels deep inside. He hears the door creak and jumped up, realizing he hadn’t shut the door all the way.

“Hello?” A soft voice called.

“Tony?” Stephen’s voice cracked a little and he winces. He hurriedly wipes his face and takes a deep breath. “Did you need something?”

“I’m turning on the lights.” Tony warns before flipping them on. Stephen hisses at the sudden flood of bright lights.

“Stephen.” Tony moved closer, sitting beside him. “What’s wrong?”

Stephen shakes his head and clears his throat. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired is all.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Tony counters, 

“Do you need something Tony or did you come to annoy me?”

Tony glares at him. “You aren’t getting out of this. We are going to talk later. But yes, I actually want something.”

“Well I’m waiting.”

“Peter wants to meet you.”

“Me? Why?” Stephen asked, shocked.

“Uh because you are one of my best friends?”

“I….see.”

“Please will you please just come meet him? He’s really important to me.”

Stephen knew full well he could never tell Tony no. He sighs and nods. “Only for a few moments though because I actually would like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“Great. Come on.” Tony gets up and leads him out.

 

Once they got to the room, Stephen took one look at Peter, who was all bright smiles and greetings, and couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hello. My name is Stephen Strange.”

“You helped fix my leg!” 

Stephen nods. “Yes, I did.”

“Thank you a lot.”

“Well I’m just happy to help.” Stephen says, relaxing a bit. 

“So….do all the neurosurgeons here have pretty eyes and nice hair?” Peter blurts, his face flushing.

Tony gives Steve a look, a dopey smile on his face.

“Well, not as far as I know but don’t tell me I’m going to have to fight my best friend for your attention.” Tony teases. Stephen pants Tony’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. He isn't my type. No offence Peter.”

“None taken!” Peter stammered a bit. “You aren’t really my type either.”

“So if Peter isn’t your type, who is?” Tony questions with that damn quirked eyebrow of his.

Stephen shrugged, stopping himself from saying what automatically popped into his head.

“Ah well, you’re find someone who I deem good enough for you.” Tony grins.

“Yeah, we’ll see.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. Sorry I took so long to update. Now that I'm mostly settled at my new job, I should be able to update every Monday or Tuesday until this is finished. Enjoy! And remember, if you have something to say, let me know!

 

Finally Peter was able to start PT and he could feel that it was going to be a long day. Getting out of the bed was one thing, standing upright was another. Walking was an entirely different beast all together. Dr. Romanova was pretty patient with him. He asked her multiple times if she thought he could actually walk again. Every time, she calmly told him that he was doing great. The woman honestly had the patience of a saint. Walking wouldn’t come yet, as he was still having trouble staying upright by himself. He was sore and just wanted to sleep. He glances over to the door, distracted. He wanted to see Tony, but also didn’t want to see Tony. He wanted Tony to  be proud of him for something. He feels the back of his head being lightly slapped and he snapped out of his thoughts. 

“If you don’t stop staring into space, I’m going to let you fall on your face.”

“You wouldn’t!” Peter pouts a little. She raises an eyebrow and loosens her grip. Peter stumbles and flails his arms. She catches him easily and smirks.

“Believe me now?”

“That was mean.” Peter pouts.

“What’s on your mind, Spiderling?” She asked, sitting him down slowly in a chair.

“Spiderling?” 

“That’s not answering the question.”

Peter sighs a little. “I don’t…..I don’t know if Tony and I are the right thing.”

Something flashed in the woman’s eyes but her speech remained calm. “Explain?”

“Tony is amazing, you know that. But am I really good enough for him? I mean, he’s a brain surgeon for god’s sake. One of the best.in the world. And I’m just an ex-dancer. He saves lives for a living.”

Dr. Romanova nods a little. “Tony is a special person. He’s a man with a broken past. I have never seen him smile as much as he does since he met you. He is legitimately happy. He hasn’t lost a case since you two became a thing. You’re like his saving grace or something. His good luck charm. Never doubt your self worth Peter.”

Peter looks down. “Yeah. You’re right. It was dumb.”

Did Tony really believe he was good luck? He didn’t feel like he deserved it but he wasn’t going to argue with Tony. Or Dr. Romanova because she kinda scared him. 

“Peter I don’t blame you for questioning yourself, but maybe you should talk to him about all this.”

“No.” Peter shakes his head. “No. I can’t. I don’t want to worry him.” 

\-----.-----

Tony makes his way across the lobby area to look at the surgical board. It looked like he was clipping an aneurysm in a bit and he had to check on Aaron. He would like to spend some time in the ER today. Maybe he could catch Peter for lunch and he could finally meet Steve. He’d ask Nat. Turning on his heel, Tony makes his way towards Aaron’s room. As he walked, he sings softly to himself. ‘Sweet Caroline’ typically comes to mind when he had moments like this. They were rare before he met Peter, but they did happen.

“Sweeet Carolineeee, bum bum bum, good times never seemed so good-”

“My god, you’re smitten.” A voice behind him interrupted. 

Tony stops and turns. Stephen stood there with an amused look on his face.

“I can’t help it!” He grins. “It’s a good feeling, to have someone want you for more than your brain. Pun intended.”

Stephen’s face fell a little but he recovered quickly. Tony still caught it and felt bad.

“Well I’m happy for you. It’s about time you started smiling more.”

“Stephen I didn’t mean-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Stephen waves his hand. “On your way to go see Aaron?” 

Grateful for the subject change, Tony nods. “He’s doing great from what I’ve heard. Oh hey, what are you doing for lunch?”

“I’m not sure. Why?”

“I was gonna see if Steve and Bucky and Nat and Peter wanted to do lunch. You wanna come? A real lunch not hospital food.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Go see your future FBI agent.”

Tony gives a mock salute and smiles. “See ya at lunch.”

“Maybe.”

“Nah. I’ll see you then.”

Tony laughs as he makes his way into Aaron’s room. Only Hayley was there.

“No Spencer today?”

“He had class. At the university.” Aaron smiles a little. “Going for his first PhD.”

“His first?” Tony raises an eyebrow.

“He’s a genius.” Hayley says proudly. “Graduated highschool at thirteen.”

“Wow, he really is a genius.” Tony whistles. “Well it all looks good. Ready to get out of here?”

“I’d love nothing more.” Aaron answers, sitting up. 

“I’ll get you the papers, one moment.” Tony leaves the room to go get the papers and returns a moment later. “Just fill the paper and then take it to the desk and you’re free to go.” 

“Thanks Dr. Stark. You’re the best.”

Tony laughs a little. “Yeah that is what I’ve been told.”

“Yeah well it’s true.” Aaron replies, filling out the paperwork.

It was nice to hear that. He felt the smile growing across his face. It was cases like this that reminded him why he does what he does. To help people. To see their smiles and happy tears as they hug each other in relief. It was unlike anything he’s ever seen. Tony bids them goodbye and decided to go find Steve to ask about lunch. He makes his way upstairs to Steve’s office and knocked on the door that was usually open, but was closed now. Tony heard a gasp and then a thump, laughter and then

“One moment!”

A few minutes later the door was opened to reveal Steve with messy hair and a red face. Looking over his shoulder, Tony spots Bucky sitting in Steve’s desk chair looking smug as hell. The drawings on his arm were smudged. Tony smirks a little. 

“In the office? You have balls Rogers. Or a kink. Either way,” Tony gives a two fingered salute. Bucky laughs loudly behind them. Steve turns and shoots him what Tony assumes is a dirty look.

“Can I help you with something Tony?” He forces out. Tony barely held back the laughter building up in his throat, earning himself the ‘Steve Rogers Stare of Disappointment’.

“Yeah I was wondering if you and Bucky wanted to join me, Peter and Stephen for lunch. You are the only one who hasn’t met him yet.”

Steve instantly brightens up. “Yeah. That sounds great. Bucky?”

“As long as it’s not hospital food I’m in.” Bucky calls with a wave.

“Awesome. We’re meeting at noon. Make sure you have pants on.” He teases.

Steve shot him daggers at him in the form of his bright blues. Tony just cracks up.

“Okay you two carry o. I’m gonna go find Peter.”

‘You haven’t told him about lunch yet.”

Tony bites his lip.

“....No?”

“You set up a group lunch date and didn’t think to ask your boyfriend yet?”

“I’m going I’m going.” He turns to walk away but looks back. “Stay safe you two.”

The response was a pen flying at Tony’s head.

 

Tony made his way to the ortho PT area but it was empty. So next he tried Peter’s room. As he got closer, he hears soft singing. It was Peter. 

“...One dance, just you and me, beneath the moon, beside the sea. One dance and it’s happily ever after...One dance and you will see, we’re not so different, you and me. Just us two, me and you. One dance…”

The song had a sad feeling to it and Peter’s voice was like a siren, strong and beautiful, but also sad and sorrowful. Tony feels himself being drawn in and moving forward.

“What song is that?”  He hears himself asking.

Peter gasped, startled. He flushes and looks away.

“Sorry, I got a little bored.”

“Don’t apologize. It was beautiful.” He settles on the bed.

“It’s called ‘One Dance’. It was a deleted song from the movie, replaced by ‘Part of Your World’. It is on some soundtracks but wasn’t included in the movie due to not being catchy enough. It’s when Ariel is human and has deep feelings for Eric. It’s a beautiful song, one of my favorites.”

“It sounded beautiful. I love it.”  Tony smiles. “So how was PT?” 

“Dr. Romanova almost dropped me but other than that, I’m almost ready to stand on my own.”

“You’ll be walking in no time.”

“I hope so. I’d hate to take up a bunch of room being in a wheelchair for your friend’s wedding.”

Tony laughs softly. “That is true. But i won’t have you walking before you can. I care that you heal fully, no matter how long it takes.”

Peter nods a little. “Yeah I know. I'm just a bit stubborn.”

“Just like me. I can match you stubborn for stubborn.”

Peter laughs. “Is that so?”

“Yes it is. Oh!” Tony clasps his hands together. “We have a lunch date.”

“We do?”

“Well, you, me, Stephen, Bucky and Steve do. Non hospital food.”

“Oh? So I finally get to meet this Steve everyone keeps talking about.”

“Yes you do and he’s excited to meet you too.” Tony laughs a little at the memory of interrupting Steve and Bucky earlier.

“What’s so funny?”

“Earlier I interrupted Steve and Bucky in his office.”

“Interrupted…?” Then realization dawned on the younger man’s soft face. “Oh.  _ Oh _ .”

“Yep. He threw a pen at my head.” He pulls the pen from the pocket of his coat. “This one.” It was blue and had ‘MARVEL HOSPITAL. Saving lives is what we do’. Peter looks at the pen and laughs. 

“It is a nice pen.”

“Yeah. I guess it is.” Tony smiles.

“Maybe it can be a good luck charm.”

“Nah. I already have one.” Tony grins and kisses Peter’s forehead.

Peter blushes at the compliment. Tony found it endearing.

\-----.-----

Steve leaves his jacket in his office and heads down to peds to pick up Bucky for lunch. He pushes through the door and greets the group of interns. He finds Bucky in the NICU, feeding one of the smaller babies. Steve waits until the bottle is empty before going forward. Bucky looks up at him and smiles. After getting caught that morning, Steve redid the drawing on Bucky’s arm. Today’s there was Disney.

“Hey Stevie.”

“Hey Buck. Is he eating now?” Steve asked, peeking over the bed. This little boy had been refusing to eat since he had surgery repairing his stomach.

“Yeah, a whole eight ounces today.” Bucky grins. He holds the empty bottle up proudly.

“That’s wonderful.” Steve kisses him softly. “Come on, we have to meet the others. Tony decided we’re doing Mexican, so we’re meeting the others there.”

“Mexican sounds amazing. I haven’t had a good taco in a while.” 

“Well let’s get going then.”

Bucky laces their fingers together and pulls him to the door. 

“I’m driving.”

 

Once they arrived, were seated and orders were placed, Steve looks around at the faces at the table. 

“Where’s Stephen?”

“He had an emergency surgery come up. An FBI agent came in with a bullet wound to the neck.” Tony explains. 

Steve winces. Getting shot suckes. Getting shot in the neck was probably hell. He finally looks at the new face and smiles.

“So you’re the Peter Parker Tony is so crazy about?”

Peter nods, obviously nervous.

“Yes sir, that’s me.”

Steve couldn't help but smile. 

“No sir. Makes me feel a hundred years old. Just Steve. It’s okay, I don’t bite.”

“Bullshit.” Bucky says, tugging at his collar. Purple spots littered his neck.

“Damn Steve! I thought I was possessive.” Tony snorts.

Steve rolls his eyes and turned his attention back to Peter. 

“Any way, if you didn’t know, Tony is nuts about you.”

“Yeah. I think I got really lucky.” Peter laughs.

“Nah you just have amazing tastes.” Tony says, leaning over and stealing a bite of the young man’s taco salad.

“Oi!” Peter smacks him away. “Mine!”

“It’s rude to smack the man you love.” Tony says before a panicked look crosses his face. “Shit, sorry. It slipped out and-”

“Yeah.” Peter interrupts him. “My bad.” His face has a smile so bright the room seems dim. He presses a smile kiss to Tony’s cheek and whispers in his ear. Steve has never seen Tony blush that much.

Steve looks over at Bucky, who’s expression was soft. Steve leans on his fiance's shoulder. 

“That’s forever right there.”

“It sure as hell is.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. I know I said Tuesday and this chapter is late. I'm so sorry. Please enjoy

Peter was sitting on his bed reading when there was a knock on the door frame, causing him to startle and look up. Stephen Strange stood there, looking nervous. The look seemed strangely out of place on the man’s face. 

“I don’t mean to disturb you but I was wondering if we could get to know one another, as you are dating my best friend.” He sounded unsure and Peter found it endearing.

Peter closed his book and smiles. “Yeah, come on in.” He folds his good leg under his injured one and watches Stephen cross the room. “What’s on your mind?” He asks.

“Well,” Stephen takes a seat and folded his arms. “People are idiots.” He says bluntly, making Peter laugh. 

“Care to expand on that?”

“There was this guy in the ER today who did body shots off of a complete stranger and got piece of glass stuck up his nose and didn’t realize until three days later and it had moved up to his eye socket.”

Peter winces. “Oh my god. Gross.” 

“Gross indeed.” Stephen laughs and shakes his head. “How do you  not realize you have glass up your nose?”

“Well some people are dumb.”  Peter remarks, shifting and wincing a little. “Sonofabitch.” He hisses.

“Try bending your knee a few times every hour. You’re not moving it enough and it’s getting stiff. If you let it get to stiff, the work you’re doing with Natasha is only going to hurt more.” The older man suggests, standing up. “May I?”

Peter stared at him blankly for a moment, before he realized what was happening. “Uh, yeah. Okay? Sure.”

Stephen slowly wraps his hands around Peter’s leg, on either side of his knee.

“This is going to hurt.” He warns before slowly bending the leg. Peter gasped loudly and reaches to stop him but Stephen shoos his hand away. “Let me help you.” 

Peter lays back and closes his eyes, tightening his jaw.

“Talk to me Peter. It may distract you.”

“About what?” Peter’s voice raises an octave when the rods touched a little.

“Sorry sorry.” Stephen releases his leg and lays it flat. “Tony?”

“What about Tony?”

“Anything. I have many stories and can answer questions if you want?”

“Okay but I do have a question for you.”

“Fire away.”

“How come you or Steve haven’t threatened me yet? You are his best friends right? I don’t get a whole ‘you hurt him and I’ll kill you and make it look natural’?”

Stephen laughs at that. “I take it Pepper hasn’t come to visit you yet.” Then his face sobers. “But do keep in mind that I am a brain surgeon, Nat is helping you learn to walk again and Pepper and Steve are trauma surgeons. You do not want to piss off a bunch of doctors.”

Peter gaped at him for a moment then breaks into a grin. “That’s what I was waiting for.”

“Also remember that both Steve and Bucky are ex military so they don’t take kindly to someone hurting one of their own.” Stephen takes his seat again. “But I’m honestly not worried because you make Tony really happy and you’re good for him.”

Peter is quiet for a few minutes after that. “I’m glad because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. He’s amazing.”

“Yes, he really is.”

“So you said you have stories? Care to tell me some?”

“One time, during our internship, Tony swallowed a needle to prove he was a badass.”

“Why in hell?” Though, thinking about it, that does sound like something that Tony would do.

“He likes to show off a bit. He doesn’t need to though. Anyone who has met him can tell that he’s the best at what he does.”

“He really is amazing, I’m surprised that he is dating me when he can do better.”

“It’s because he’s drawn to you. He loves you so much. I’ve known him for years now. When you’re around, his smile is brighter and his eyes sparkle. You have a magical effect on him.”

Peter listens quietly and something dawns on him. He’d talk to Tony about it later.

“I haven’t felt this way about anyone in…..ever. I mean, yeah I’ve had crushes and relationships before but this….it feels real. It feels perminate.”

”Maybe it’s fate.”

“Maybe so. I hope so.”

\-----.-----

Tony finished his rounds and makes his way to the cafeteria to get a coffee. He had been on his feet for over twenty four hours and honestly he just wanted a break. He gets a straight black coffee, which is nasty but does keep him awake. He sips at the bitter liquid and slowly strolled the now empty halls. He comes to a stop outside Peter’s room and smiles. The younger man was sitting up, slowly bending his leg at the knee.

He waits until Peter stops messing with his leg and then knocks on the doorframe. Peter looks at him and grins. 

“Tony. I missed you.”

Tony moves forward, dropping the empty cup in the trash before approaching the bed and pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead. Peter tilts his head up.

“Give me a real kiss.” He demands. Tony found it so adorable that he couldn’t say no and leaned down, pressing a tender kiss to Peter’s lips. Peter makes a soft noise, pulling Tony closer, so the doctor was braced with one knee up on the bed and his hands on Peter’s face. The kiss deepens, a mix of harsh breath, teeth and tongue. 

The sudden loud beeping of Peter’s heart monitor scared the hell out of Tony and he jerked back. Peter looks sheepish and the two locked eyes before bursting out with laughter.

“So” Tony says, once he got himself under control. “Is that going to be a norm for us?”

“Hopefully not while I’m hooked up to machines. That’s very unsexy.”

“I think you always look sexy.”

Peter blushes and grins doopily. 

“I think you look sexy always too. Even now with messy hair and a five o’clock shadow.” He says fondly, reaching up to rubs his thumb across Tony’s cheekbone. Tony nuzzles the hand and kisses the thumb. 

“Anything interesting happen today?” 

“I talked to Stephen today. A guy got glass up his nose from body shots.” Peter shudders. 

“That’s nasty.” 

“Well I think it was a college student. If not, then that’s just sad.”

Tony laughs. “You were a collage student once.”

“I wasn’t dumb enough to do body shots off a stranger.”

“Did you do anything dumb in college?”

Peter blushes and looks away, mumbling a little.

“I didn’t catch that. Care to repeat it louder?”

“Iwasastripperforayearandahalftopayforschool.” 

Tony blinks as he deciphers what was just word vomited at him. 

“Wait really?”

Peter nods, looking as if he wanted to disappear.

“I think that’s hot as hell. I wish I could have seen it.”

“”Well I was quite popular.”

“Did you have a stripper name?” Tony raises an eyebrow and leans forward on his hands.

“I was….SpiderMan. Because of the way I could climb the entire pole easily and hang upside down. And I could dance with ropes.”

Tony is quiet as he ponders this. “I wonder if anyone has videos….”

 

 

“Please don’t go looking. It was cringy!”

“All the more reason to look for it.” Tony teases. 

“Tony!” Peter whines.

“Alright, alright fine. I won’t go looking.”  He was interrupted mid sentence with a yawn. 

“Come lay with me.” Peter says suddenly.

“You sure?”

“You look dead on your feet and I wanna snuggle.”

Tony looked as if he wanted to argue but thought better and climbs up onto the bed. Once he was settled, Peter was snuggled into his side and closes his eyes with a content smile. As happy as he looked, something nagged in the back of his mind. 

_ Stephen Strange is in love with Tony.  _  How was Peter supposed to compete with that?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo this one was a doosey. Enjoy

The road to Peter’s recovery is slow and tedious. Everyone was on edge and Peter hadn’t made much progress and it was obviously stressing him out.

“Let’s try the bars again.” Dr. Romanova says patiently.

“Do you think it’s actually helping?”

“You are getting better. Slowly but surely.”

“Yeah. Slow as frozen molasses in December.”

Dr. Romanova laughs and shakes her head. “Were you this impatient when you were learning a new dance?”

Something snapped in Peter and he pushes out of her gasp, stumbling to his chair. 

“I’ll never dance again remember?” He says rather coldly. He doesn’t look at her, not in the face anyway. “So what does it matter?”

“Peter-”

“It was you who dropped that axe remember?” He continues. “You made the diagnosis but had Tony deliver it.”

She stared at him, her eyes hard and emotionless. “Tony told me to let him do it.”

“That doesn’t make it any better!” He yells, voice cracking. “My life is over!”

Something in Dr. Romanova’s eyes darken. “You’re being a child Peter. Whining will get you nowhere.”

“Maybe but-” 

A knock at the door stopped the words from falling out of Peter’s mouth that he would definitely regret.

Dr. Romanova looked grateful for the interruption and heads to the door. A very familiar head peeked around the door.

“Peter?” Ned calls. Peter’s mood lifts instantly. 

“Ned!”

Ned hurries in as the doctor leaves. He settles on the floor next to Peter’s chair.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, handing over cookies from the bakery that Ned’s family owned.

“Eh, I’m having ups and down.” He admits. He could already feel the guilt of what just happened in his gut. 

“Oh? And how is Dr. Stark?” Ned wiggles his eyebrows. 

Peter blushes and looks away. “Tony is…...absolutly perfect.”

“Oh I don’t doubt it.” Ned laugh. “You tend to wear your emotions like a coat. You are so far goneyou aren’t even visable on the map anymore.”

“Dude that’s such a weird hing to say.”

“It’s true though and you know it.”

\-----.-----

Tony rubs his eyes and blinks hard  to clear his head. He couldn’t concentrate. God he needed sleep. Maybe he could find time later….. He downs his third black coffee and clears his throat.

“Stark, you okay?” Stephen asked, making Tony look over. 

“Hm?”

“You okay?” Stephen puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Okay well Natasha said that Peter is looking for you. He wants you to meet his best friend. He says it’s only fair because he met your friends.”

Tony chuckles and nods. To Tony’s superise, Stephen looked amused. 

“Alright, I’m going.”

“Don’t take to long. We have a surgery in an hour.”

“Aye aye.” Tony calls with a wave.

 

By the time Tony got to Peter’s room, laughter could  be heard in the hall. He watche through the window for a moment. Peter’s smile was so bight and so  _ real  _ that Tony was a bit jealous. Peter looks up and notices Tony. He just smiles and waves him over. Tony waves back and enters the room. He stops by Peter’s head and drops a kiss to his hairline.

“Hey love. Having a good day?”

“I am now. Tony, this is Ned. My best friend.”

“Well nice to meet you Ned. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure is all mine. So long as you behave.”

Despite Ned’s soft outter appearance, Tony felt a real threat in the words.

“Don’t worry. I’ll cut off my hand before I do anything that stupid.”

“Ned leave him be!” Peter scolds.

“Ah he’s alright. I understand it.”   
  
Ned looked smug and Peter just rolls his eyes. 

“So what are we talking about?” Tony asked, sitting down.

“Comparing your ass to Johnny Depp's.” Ned says, making Peter blush.

“Ned!”

“Its true!”

“What conclusion have you come to?” Tony asked, curious. “In my humble opinion, Mr. Depp is quite nice looking but I do have a nicer face.”

“You have a nicer everything.” Peter comments.

“Everything?” Ned raises an eyebrow.

“Not like that you perv!” Peter smacks him.

“Well, yes like that.” Tony says, laughing.

 

The rest of the hour flew by and Tony found himself not wanting to leave. But alas, duty calls. He stands and kisses Peter goodbye.

“It was nice meeting you Ned. I hope we can hang out again soon.”

\-----.------

A few hours later, Peter is snapped out of his thoughts by Stephen sweeping into the room. The tall man always had an elegant but dramatic entrance to every room he entered. Peter was slightly annoyed by it.    
  
"Can I help you?"   
  
Stephen crosses his arms.    
  
"There was no need for you to blow up at Natasha like that. She's trying to help you. Or Antony. He's been by your side this whole time."   
  
"Yeah well, a good lot that's doing. I've taken two steps in four weeks and can't even stand on my own. This is stupid. Maybe I should break it off because all I seem to be doing is distracting him from his work and holding him back."   
  
Stephens posture stiffens and his pale eyes harden.   
  
"Don't you fucking dare."   
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
"You heard me. You and I both know that's not what you want to do and it will basically kill Tony if you break this off. You loves you more than he's ever love anything else. I tell you this because we've been friends for longer than you've been alive. Don't do this. To him or yourself."   
  
Emotions flicker across Peter's face as he raised his chin.    
  
"I know you love him."   
  
"Of course I do. He's my best friend."   
  
"You know that's not what I meant." He pauses. "Why haven't you made a move?"    
  
"My feelings do not matter."   
  
"But you've said yourself that you've been friends longer than I've been alive. Does he even know?"   
  
Stephen doesn't answer, but instead repeats. "My feelings do not matter in this case. You make him happy. That's what matters."    
  
With that, he turns on his heel and sweeps out of the room.   
  


 

Not long after Stephen left, Peter spots a flash of red hair.

“Dr. Romanova!” He calls.

She stops and turns toward him, obviously hesitant. Peter looks down.

“I want to apologise for how I acted earlier.” He starts. “I don't blame you at all for this.”

Her face broke into a grin, much to Peter's surprise. 

“You really are making progress Peter.”

“Slowly but surely.” He smiles.

“No Peter. I mean you actually walked today. When you got pissed off.  _ You walked away from me. _ ” She grins and turns to walk off.   
\-----.-----   
  
It had become a habit for Peter and Tony to spend late nights in Peter’s room reading or cuddling. Peter looks up from the book spread across his lap.. It was the third book of the Zodiac series, where Nish, one of the main characters, had gotten engaged and then a few hours later her fiance was killed.   
  
"Do you know of Stephen's feeling for you?" He asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them.   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"I mean." Peter yawns. "He's been in love with you for years." He looks up at Tony, whose face was slack with shock. His lips were slightly parted and his dark eyes wide. Peter laughs tiredly.    
  
"You're cute surprised. I'll remember that." He murmurs, closing his eyes.   
  
  
Tony kept perfectly still as Peter falls asleep, his brain going crazy. Stephen? Stephen "I-Don't-Need-Anyone" Strange? That's not possible. Right?   
  
Once he was sure Peter was asleep, Tony slipped out carefully. He needed to find Stephen. Walking the halls, Tony finds him sitting at the nurse's station, doodling. He looks up as Tony approaches.   
  
"Hey."   
  
"We need to talk."   
  
"Well it's nice to see you too. What's up?"   
  
"Not here." Tony turns and finds the nearest supply closet. Stephen follows with an annoyed huff.   
  
“Antony what is this about?"   
  
Tony turns and faces him, his eyes searching in the dimly lit room.   
  
"Why didn't you tell me you have feelings for me?"   
  
Stephen was silent, his mouth hung open. If this were any other time, Tony would have found it funny as hell.   
  
"Stephen, answer me." Tony pleaded.   
  
Stephen sighs softly. "Because I knew you didn't feel that way about me. No one ever does."   
  
"How long?"   
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
"How. Long?"   
  
Another pause. Then-   
  
"I don't remember not having feelings for you."   
  
"Does anyone else know?"   
  
"....Pepper." Stephen whispers.   
  
"You told Pepper and not me?" Tony's voice grew angry now.    
  
"I didn't know how you would react. You never even glanced at me twice. And no, I didn't tell Pepper. She just figured it out on her own."    
  
"Steph-"   
  
"No, now that you know, I need to tell you something." Stephen takes a loud, deep breath. "You wanna know what happened on that night?"   
  
Tony didn't even have to ask what night he was referring to. Stephen seemed to take his silence as a 'yes'.   
  
"You showed up to my house at 11:50, drunk off your ass. Demanded my attention as if I owed it to you. When I sent you to bed, you went to my room. I go in there to go to sleep and you-" Stephen's voice cracked a little, but he clears his throat and presses on. "You kissed me. Said you needed me. What you needed was someone to replace him. Peter. That's who you love. Not me. It was never me."   
  
  
"I sorry." Tony says, looking away.   
  
"I know."  _ You always are. _   
  
"I did, y'know."   
  
"What?"   
  
"Have feelings for you. When we were in school. I never made a move because I didn't deserve you.   
So I forced myself to move on. And I'm glad I did because I met Peter."   
  
The words were like a slap in the face and Stephen took a step back. This new information made this whole thing worse.   
  
"Yeah. Okay. Yeah."   
  
"But this gives you the chance to find the happy ending you deserve."   
  
Stephen let's out a short laugh and rea

* * *

ches for the door.   
  
"Stephen?"   
  
"I need time Antony. Give me time."


	12. Chapter 12

Tony stared at spot where Stephen stood, just moments before.   _ What the hell did I just do?  _ He asked himself. He wasn’t surprised though. He always messed things up. He always ended up pushing those closest to him away. It was only a matter of time before Peter left him too. He didn’t want to think about it but it was bound to happen. He needed to be careful. 

Instead of heading back to Peter, Tony decided to head to the bar across the street. He wasn’t on call and the bartender knew him well. Changing out of his scrubs, he makes his way across the street. It was raining. Irony at its finest.

He goes up to the bar and the old bartender turned to him, cleaning a glass.

“Evening Dr. Stank. The usual?” He asked.

Tony almost smiled at the nickname. “Hey Stan. Got anything stronger?”

“Bad night?”

“Understatement. What’s your strongest?”

“Everclear or Spirytus Rektyfikowany?”

“Oh what the hell. Give me both.”

Stan winces sympathetically. “Wanna talk about it?” He asked, grabbing an unopened bottle and an open one that was mostly full. He popped the cork of one, the Spirytus Rektyfikowany, and pours a glass. He slides it over and grabs a beer for himself, leaning on his elbows on the bar. “Spill young man.”

Tony sighs and takes a big drink, coughing, “Holy shit. Are you trying to kill me?”

“You asked for the strongest.we have. Now stop avoiding the question before I call Jarvis to get you to talk.”

Tony shakes his head. “No. Don’t bother him. I don’t want to worry him.”

“Then start talking or mope elsewhere.”

Tony sighs again. “I fucked up my relationship with my best friend.”

“How’d you do that?”

“I called out his feelings for me like a dumbass. He has had feelings for me for like-” Tony takes another drinks. “-fifteen years. He was just scared of saying anything. Didn’t want to ruin what he had, he said. He was working through it.” He downs the glass and slams it on the bartop. “Can I just have the bottle?”

Stan slides it over. “No one else drinks it anyway.”

Tony tips it back and drinks heavily. “I am going to regret this tomorrow.”

“It is tomorrow” Stan points out, “Twelve oh two.”

“Yes thank you for that.”

“What else is bothering you Tony?”

“I used to have feelings for him too. He is smart and sexy and a bit of an asshole. It was like looking in a mirror. But I was to stupid to make a move.” He takes another drink. “And now I have Peter.”

“Peter?” Stan raises an eyebrow.

“Peter Parker. My boyfriend.”

“Oh I know him. Used to drive his school bus.”

“Damn you are ancient. No offense.” 

“It’s true.” Stan laughs. “He’s a good kid, but I didn’t peg him as your type.”   
  
“Yeah neither did I.” Tony says, his head starting to feel light.    
But he is absolutely perfect.” He laughs a little. “He has pretty eyes.”

A little ways down the bar, Tony hears:

  
“Scotch neat, please.” 

“Hey I know that voice!” Tony calls, taking another drink. “That is Stephen. I think he is mad at me.”

“Probably.” Stan sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t do anything stupid, I’ll be right back.”

He moves down the bar and hands Stephen his drink. They chatted for a few moments before Stan returns. “Behave.” 

“I am behave.” Tony protests. 

“Of course you are.” Stan sighs. He looked down the bar. “Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed, yeah?”

Tony sees Stephen wave in acknowledgement. He stands up so fast he nearly falls. 

“Stephen! Com’ere!” he calls. “Stepphheennnnnnnnnnn” Tony calls. “Come on we gotta talk.”

Stephen stands and walks over, taking his arm. “You’re causing a scene Anthony.”

“You’re warm. Why are you so warm? Are you sick?”

“No, I am fine. Let’s get you home.”

“I’m not drunk yet.” 

“Clearly.” Stephen says sarcastically, taking the bottle and handing it back to Stan. “I got him. I’ll get him home.”

:Have a good night Stephen.” Stan calls.

 

Stephen pulls into Tony’s driveway a little later and went around to help him inside. He had his own key so it was a bit easier than to be expected.

“Yknow.” Tony giggles. “You are a good kisser.”

“Excuse me?” Stephen demands, steering him inside.

“We kissed, remember? When Petey was madddd at me? Kinda like you are now?” Tony poked Stephen’s face.

Stephen bats his hand away. “Yes I remember.” He says dryly.

“I didn’t forget yknow. I only said I did so I wouldn’t hurt your feelings. I mean, great job of that, huh?”

Stephen resisted the urge to slap him or call him a liar. He knew from experience that Tony was a very honest drunk.

“I’m not mad at you Tony. Just myself.”

“I don’t want to fight you Stephyyy.”

“What?”

“I have to fight whoever makes my friends sad. So stop it cause I’m to drunk for that.”

“You’re to drunk for anything.”

“Hey wanna kiss me again? For old time’s sake? It won’t mean nothin’.”

“Bed Anthony.” Stephen pushed him. “Now.”

Stephen couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

 

 

 

Tony wakes with a splitting headache. He doesn’t even want to move. Is this what it felt like to be hit by a bus?

He sat up quickly when he heard someone in his house then winces at his brain rocking around. A blonde head poked inside the bedroom door.

“Good. You’re awake.”

“Pepper?” Tony slurred a little. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m on hangover duty.” She says, handing him a glass of water and two aspirins. “Take these and then shower while I get breakfast ready.”

“God I love you Peppercorn.” Tony says, downing the pills and water before carefully standing and making his way to the bathroom. The shower started quietly and he stepped under the hot mist after shedding his clothes, sighing with relief.

The hot water felt amazing on his skin and seemed to ease some of the tension off of his shoulders. He leaned his forehead against the cool tile of the shower and felt the headache start to subdue a little. It’s a good thing he had built up an alcohol tolerance over the years. Otherwise, he may be dying right now. Running his fingers through his hair, Tony realizes how dirty it is. He reaches for the soap and begins to wash slowly. After a good five minutes or so, he steps back into the water and rinses off. He turns the water off and steps out, drying off and putting clean sweats and a t-shirt on. He pads out to the kitchen, where there is a plate of bacon and eggs waiting. Next to the plate is another glass of water.

“You work night shift today, I told Rogers what happened, to an extent of course.”

“How do you know what happened?” Tony asked, mouth full.

“Stephen told me of course.”

:Right. Stephen. How is he?”

“Better I think.”

“That’s good..” 

They lapse into silence as Tony eats. Finally, Pepper speaks up.

“I have rounds but call me or Nat or Steve if you need anything okay?”

“Yes ma’am. See you tonight.”

 

After a four hour nap, Tony wakes up feeling better and ready to work. He grabs his keys and heads out.

He was making his rounds and just left Peter’s room when an intern came running up to him. He was a nerdy looking guy with light brown hair and red glasses. Tony glances at his name tag and sees that it reads ‘Robert Bones’. Oh the irony.

“Can I help you Robert?” Tony asks.

“Oh, just Bobby.” The intern- Bobby- pants, trying to catch his breath.

“Can I help you Bobby Bones?” Tony prompts.

“I was told to tell you that Aaron Hotcnher is here.”

Tony’s posture snapped up. “What happened?”

“His girlfriend hit her head...they believe there is internal bleeding.” 

“Take me to them. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cookies to anyone who spotted both cameos :)


End file.
